News - Middle East: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has “apparently” departed for Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, according to South Korean media reports.

On Monday South Korea’s YTN TV, citing an unnamed government source, reported Kim appears to be headed to North Korea’s northeastern border on a special train.
It said the summit with Putin is likely to be held as early as Tuesday. The broadcaster earlier said the meeting could take place on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also reported on Monday that the North Korean leader’s train “appears” to have left for Russia.
Earlier in the day, Russian news agency Interfax reported Kim was expected to visit the Far East “in the coming days.”
Last week, US officials also released intelligence that preparations had been underway for arranging a meeting between the two leaders.
US and other officials recently told The New York Times that Kim is likely to head by armored train to Vladivostok, on Russia’s Pacific coast not far from North Korea, this month to meet Putin.
If confirmed, the trip would be Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years and the first since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, he traveled to Vladivostok for his first summit with Putin after the collapse of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament talks with former US President Donald Trump.