North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is on his way home from Russia, ending a six-day trip that triggered global concerns about weapons transfer deals between the two countries locked in separate standoffs with the West.
Mr Kim began his journey back to North Korea aboard his armoured train from the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, following a farewell ceremony at a train station, Russia’s state news agency RIA said.
Since entering Russia last Tuesday in his first overseas trip in more than four year, Mr Kim has met President Vladimir Putin and visited key military and technology sites.
Earlier on Sunday, his visit had a lighter mode, as he toured a university and watched a walrus show at a Russian aquarium.
Russia’s state media released videos of Mr Kim – dressed in a black suit and accompanied by his top officials – talking with Russian officials through translators as he walked through the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Russky Island.
He was later seen at the island’s Primorsky Aquarium, Russia’s largest, where he watched performances featuring beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and “Misha” the walrus, which he seemed to particularly enjoy, according to Russian media.
Mr Kim’s trip, highlighted by a summit with Mr Putin on Wednesday, has underscored how their interests are aligning in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with the West.
US and South Korean officials have said North Korea could provide badly needed munitions for Moscow’s war on Ukraine in exchange for sophisticated Russian weapons technology that would advance Mr Kim’s nuclear ambitions.
North Korea’s state media reported Mr Kim was accompanied on Saturday’s visits by his top military officials, including his defence minister and the top commanders of his air force and navy.
A video of Mr Kim leaving on Sunday, published by the state-run RIA news agency, showed the North Korean leader – who seldom leaves his country – walking along the red carpet to the train carriage to the music of a military band and waving goodbye.
Earlier, Russian media said Kim and Russia’s defence minister had discussed practical issues to boost military co-operation, in what Pyongyang called a “fresh heyday” for bilateral relations. – Agencies