This is Love, Just look at their Mouths Foaming a bit and Eyes Popping Out

 Kim Jong-un wearing a dark suit and light tie standing next to Sergei K. Shoigu, in military uniform. Both are saluting.

A photograph released by North Korean state news shows Kim Jong-un, right, with Sergei K. Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, in July. Mr. Kim is expected to travel to meet President Vladimir V. Putin in Russia.Credit...KCNA, via Associated Press

Edward WongJulian E. Barnes

By Edward Wong and Julian E. Barnes

Reporting from Washington

 

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Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, plans to travel to Russia this month to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin to discuss the possibility of supplying Russia with more weaponry for its war in Ukraine and other military cooperation, according to American and allied officials.

In a rare foray from his country, Mr. Kim would travel from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, probably by armored train, to Vladivostok, on the east coast of Russia, where he would meet with Mr. Putin, the officials said. Mr. Kim could possibly go to Moscow, though that is not certain.

Mr. Putin wants Mr. Kim to agree to send Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles, and Mr. Kim would like Russia to provide North Korea with advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the officials said. Mr. Kim is also seeking food aid for his impoverished nation.

Both leaders would be on the campus of Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, which is scheduled to run Sept. 10 to 13, according to the officials. Mr. Kim also plans to visit Pier 33, where naval ships from Russia’s Pacific fleet dock, they said. North Korea celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Sept. 9. 

On Wednesday, the White House warned that Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim had exchanged letters discussing a possible arms deal, citing declassified intelligence. A White House spokesman, John F. Kirby, said high-level talks on military cooperation between the two nations were “actively advancing.” U.S. officials declined to give more details on the state of personal ties between the leaders, who are considered adversaries of the United States.

The new information about a planned meeting between them goes far beyond the previous warning. The intelligence relating to the plans has not been declassified or downgraded by the United States, and the officials describing it were not authorized to discuss it. They declined to provide details on how spy agencies had collected the information.

While the White House declined to discuss the new intelligence, Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman, acknowledged that the United States expected “leader-level diplomatic engagement” on the issue of arms sales to take place between Russia and North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“We urge the D.P.R.K. to cease its arms negotiations with Russia and abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,” she said in a statement after this story was published.

At other times since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials have released declassified intelligence to try to dissuade North Korea, China, and other countries from supplying Russia with weapons. U.S. officials say White House warnings about planned transfers of North Korean artillery shells stopped previous cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. 

In late August, a delegation of about 20 North Korean officials, including some who oversee security protocols for the leadership, traveled by train from Pyongyang to Vladivostok, and then flew to Moscow, an indication that North Korea was serious about a visit by Mr. Kim. Their trip, believed to be a planning expedition, took about 10 days, according to officials briefed on the intelligence reports.

One potential stop for Mr. Kim after Vladivostok, an official said, is Vostochny Cosmodrome, a space launch center that was the site of a meeting in April 2022 between Mr. Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and a partner of Mr. Putin’s in the war in Ukraine. The center, whose first rocket launch took place in 2016, is about 950 miles north of Vladivostok.

The idea for the Russia visit came from a trip by Sergei K. Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, to North Korea in July for Mr. Kim’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the “victory” over South Korean and U.S. forces in the Korean War, officials said. (In reality, the three-year war halted in 1953 in a stalemate and armistice agreement, and the two Koreas are still officially at war.)

Mr. Kim took Mr. Shoigu to an exhibition of weaponry and military equipment, including ballistic missiles banned by the United Nations. 

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During the meeting, Mr. Kim presented Mr. Shoigu with options for greater military cooperation and asked for Mr. Putin to visit North Korea, officials said. Mr. Shoigu then made a counterproposal, suggesting that Mr. Kim travel to Russia.