Russian foreign minister to visit N Korea 'soon'

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is set to visit North Korea "soon", ahead of the likely summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the North Korean state media said on Wednesday.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Lavrov will pay a visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho. However, it did not mention the date.

Earlier, a Russian media company reported that Lavrov will visit Pyongyang on Thursday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

This comes after Ri visited Moscow last month on a rare state visit and held talks with Lavrov to boost bilateral relations between North Korea and Russia.

On a related note, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to meet Vice Chairman of North Korea, Kim Young Chol in New York, in a bid to revive the summit between Trump and Kim, the White House said on Tuesday.

The latest flurry of diplomatic activity came after Trump on May 24 had issued an official letter to Kim to call off the most awaited summit following the latter's threats to do the same following the US-South Korea 'Max' military drills.

Earlier this month, North Korea also threatened to withdraw from the Trump talks if the US continued to insist Pyongyang abandon its nuclear programme.

However, on May 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that Kim had reaffirmed his willingness to hold a summit with the US and was for the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.