Pact with North Korea will protect us both from aggression, says Putin
With updates from Shaimaa Khalil and Jake Kwon in Seoul, Laura Bicker in Beijing, Ben Tavener in Moscow, Jean Mackenzie in Ukraine and Ayeshea Perera, Yvette Tan, Frances Mao, Kelly Ng and Fan Wang in Singapore
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Edited by Flora Drury
All times stated are UK
Three reasons Putin and Kim might want to be friends
Last September, Kim took a train to Russia to meet Putin.
At the time, BBC's Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg and Seoul correspondent Jean Mackenzie looked at why the two countries would want to be friends.
Watch the video below:
Video content
A relationship of convenience
Laura Bicker
China correspondent
North Korea and Russia are fast friends, not firm friends.
This is a relationship born of convenience. They each have something the other wants.
Russia badly needs ammunition; specifically high caliber artillery shells and North Korea needs money.
Kim Jong Un has not prioritised this relationship in the past. In the years before the Covid pandemic when Mr Kim was keen to hold summits he met Mr Putin only once. And yet he held three summits with President Xi, three with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in and he had three meetings with the then United States President, Donald Trump.
North Korea may be able to supply weapons to Russia now – but how long and how quickly can they sustain supplies under strict sanctions?
Of course, both are also allies in the battle against the “imperialist West” and they will want to send signals to the United States and Europe about further co-operation.
But in truth, there has been little trust between the two countries in the past and any talk of a “bromance” may be premature.
For now, these two leaders are exploring the boundaries of their new transactional friendship.
Putin is holding meetings in Yakutsk
We mentioned earlier that Putin is currently in the Russian city of Yakutsk - where he has a busy agenda over the next few hours. He is only due to fly to North Korea after.
Russian state media is airing footage of his meetings. He is currently meeting with people from various professions - including teachers and doctors - as well as those who have relocated to the eastern city.
He is due to meet with students of a music school, but seemed to be in no hurry to leave. When he was encouraged to move on to his next engagement, Putin said to "hold on", adding that he was open to fielding more questions in his meeting.
Of course all this means that we still don't know when he will arrive in Pyongyang.
How South Korea is watching Putin's trip to Pyongyang
Shaimaa Khalil
in Seoul
News of Putin’s visit has been on almost every frontpage here in Seoul.
The conservative newspaper JoongAng Daily carried the headline "Putin to visit North Korea today... Will he conduct a dangerous exchange?”
Seoul is watching this visit with trepidation because it raises questions about what Putin’s visit will mean for an increasingly tense inter-Korean relationship.
Today the South Korean army said they fired warning shots when about 20 to 30 troops from the North crossed the demarcation line by mistake in the second such incident in just over a week.
In the last few weeks hundreds of rubbish-filled balloons sent from North Korea have crossed the border.
This prompted Seoul to scrap its 2018 military agreement with Pyongyang and resume its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts which the North sees as an act of war.
One analyst here told me that so far Pyongyang has shown restraint in its reaction to to Seoul’s latest move because of Putin’s visit. The question is what happens after.
How will Kim Jong Un, who would have basked in the optics of this unity, behave towards the South?
Why is everything about Putin's trip shrouded in mystery?
Ben Tavener
Moscow producer
Media briefings, foreign intelligence sources and even satellite imagery showing preparations in Pyongyang – there was just enough information to keep speculation high that President Putin’s trip to North Korea was about to happen.
Then a trip was confirmed to Yakutsk, a city in Russia’s far east, for Tuesday daytime, which really got tongues clacking, as it could be en route.
That Mr Putin’s “friendly state visit” to North Korea was only confirmed the day before may look last-minute and smack of nerves, but this is not unusual for the Kremlin.
There is often speculation in the Russian press ahead of the president’s trips but these can be wrong – whether that’s because of intentional decoy briefings or just ill-informed sources, we can’t know.
On this occasion, the last-minute nature of the announcement may signal a desire to maintain control over the narrative.
Putin’s travel plans are tightly choreographed and meticulously planned – and the air of mystery does nothing to quash interest from the media, which the Kremlin probably doesn’t mind.
Pyongyang is ready with the red carpet for Putin
Pyongyang is all decked out to welcome Putin, with the city's streets lined with Russian flags and portraits of Putin.
Images and footage shared by the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti show a banner welcoming Putin along the freeway, lined with North Korean propaganda posters.
"The friendship between North Korea and Russia is eternal," reads one banner outside Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport.
"We warmly welcome comrade Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin," says another.
North Korea had cleared out the runways outside the Pyongyang airport a week ago, NK News, a specialist site centred on North Korea, said citing satellite footage.
What does Putin want from Kim and will he get it?
Joel Guinto
BBC News
Firstly, Putin needs ammunition to sustain his war machine in Ukraine.
“We have to remember that he started this relationship based upon his need for artillery, ammunition and rockets for his invasion of Ukraine and he will retain these needs for some time,” says Bruce Bennett, a senior defence analyst at RAND Corp in the US.
Jeffrey Lewis, a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, agrees saying: “Russia gets lots of cheap weapons, including ballistic missiles."
Beyond defence, strengthening relations with North Korea also plays into Putin’s efforts to undermine international sanctions, analysts say.
“Strengthening ties with its old Cold War partner allows Russia to undermine the international sanctions regime, counter any suggestion that the US and its allies have been able to isolate Moscow, and also add to concerns in Washington that it may have to deal with a materially strengthened North Korea,” says John Nilsson-Wright, head of the Japan and Koreas Programme at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics.
Watch livestream of Putin's visit on BBC
Don't miss the livestream at the top of this page - click play to access it.
We'll be running expert analysis, reports from our correspondents in Seoul and live footage when Putin arrives.
Russian military concerts being aired on North Korean TV
North Korean state television broadcaster KCTV is currently broadcasting concerts of Russian military and pro-war music on air, ahead of Putin's visit.
The Russian leader is expected to arrive in North Korea later this evening.
Where will Putin be staying in North Korea?
There are reports Putin will be staying at the Kumsusan guesthouse in Pyongyang, which also housed Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a 2019 state visit to North Korea in 2019.
The mansion is located near the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Jong Un’s father Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung, lie in state.
According to specialist site NK News, the guesthouse was built over a few months, just in time for Xi’s visit.
Photos of the guest house interior from North Korean state media showed plush red couches, wood panel walls, and a mirrored ceiling with chandeliers.
Putin is expected to stay overnight in North Korea before traveling to Vietnam.
A carefully choreographed visit
Laura Bicker
China correspondent
North Korea only allows the outside world to see what it wants them to see.
As a former Seoul correspondent who covered North Korea, I watched how diplomatic visits were carefully choreographed and packaged for Korean Central Television.
This one will probably be no different, complete with a moving soundtrack or poetic prose by state media. And the cameras will be looking for the best angles of Kim Jong Un and President Putin together.
Until those news reports, we will know very little about what’s happening on the ground. We are relying on flight trackers and satellite imagery to see preparations or planes landing.
In order to maintain control, the North Korean regime keeps its 25 million people in the dark through a system of isolation and brutal repression. Often the only way reporters get to hear about what’s happening is through a system of smuggled mobile phones near the Chinese border – but even that form of communication has dwindled in recent years.
The vast majority of Pyongyang’s foreign population of aid workers and diplomats left after North Korea imposed strict Covid-19 restrictions. There are few reliable eyes left who can give us a true picture inside the regime.
What's on the itinerary when Putin lands?
We expect the Russian president and his entourage - which includes the defence and security ministers - will arrive in the North Korean capital this evening local time.
Tomorrow - Wednesday 19th June - will be the key day of his state visit. There will be an official welcome ceremony between both sides' delegations, where Putin will also receive a guard of honour.
The major talks will commence after that.
As part of the two day visit - Putin will be treated to a gala concert. He is also scheduled to visit the only orthodox church in North Korea - the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity - on his way back to the airport.
The Russian leader is expected to travel straight on to Vietnam for another state visit.
Where is Putin now?
It’s unclear what time exactly the Russian leader will be arriving in Pyongyang, or even what plane he will be taking - but that hasn't stopped watchers all over the world from closely tracking flight monitoring sites. Russia has not revealed what flight he is taking to North Korea.
Russian media had earlier said that Putin would make a pitstop in the Russian city of Yakutsk, in east Siberia. He is expected to spend several hours there, meeting with the head of the Yakutia region and attending various exhibitions.
He could be aboard RSD201, which earlier took off from Moscow. That plane has now landed in Yakutsk - and is expected to land in Pyongyang in around three hours.
However, it is possible that he is onboard Flight RSD 389, which also took off from Moscow - and is now flying over Russia. That plane will only arrive in Pyongyang in around six hours.
Welcome to our live coverage
Ayeshea Perera
Live page editor
Welcome to our live coverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first state visit to North Korea in 24 years. Tuesday's trip is only the second time he has visited the reclusive state - when he last went in 2000, Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader Kim Jong Un, was the leader.
Things have drastically changed since that last visit - North Korea’s nuclear programme is far more advanced, Russia is economically much weaker since its invasion on Ukraine invited massive sanctions, and Putin has become a pariah to the West.
This meeting is going to be watched very carefully both regionally and internationally. South Korea has already warned Putin “not to cross a certain line”. South Korean and US officials also said the visit could deepen military ties between the two countries which was a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Experts say Ukraine is likely to be a major talking point for the two leaders. In recent months, there has been growing evidence that North Korean weapons are being used by Russia.
Some analysts also believe that the two leaders are also likely to discuss sending more North Korean workers to Russia.
Russia is in desperate need of manpower while Pyongyang needs foreign exchange.