INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A Russian military song and dance ensemble has arrived in North Korea, state media said Friday, with a Chinese delegation also due for a key
anniversary, in fresh signs of border reopening.North Korea has been largely closed off from the outside world since early 2020, when it
shut its borders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with even its own nationals prevented from entering.But Pyongyang invited high-level
Chinese and Russian delegations to attend celebrations marking the end of Korean War hostilities in late July.It also allowed a taekwondo
delegation to travel to an international competition, and soon after that, restarted some commercial passenger flights to Beijing."The
Russian Army Academic Song and Dance Ensemble..
arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.Pyongyang celebrates the 75th anniversary of the
country's founding day on Sept
9 and the nuclear-armed state has previously indicated it will hold a "militia parade" to mark the event.Russia has also been allowed to
bring in a new batch of diplomats to its Pyongyang mission, Moscow's embassy in the capital said on Thursday."For the first time since 2019
we welcomed 20 diplomatic and technical staff who arrived at the embassy as part of a staff rotation," the embassy said on Facebook,
alongside a photo showing Russian officials posing in front of what appears to be its building in Pyongyang.The arrival of multiple foreign
delegations over the last few months "could signal Pyongyang's further reopening of its border," Choi Gi-il, Professor of military studies
at Sangji University told AFP.In the future this could even include "accepting foreign tourists, something which was halted due to the
pandemic," he said.Kim showed a particular interest in developing North Korea's tourism industry in his early years in power, he added,
indicating this may be a priority for the leader post-pandemic.The Chinese and Russian visits come as speculation mounts that North Korean
Putin to discuss arms deals.Kim is likely to head by armored train later this month to Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast not far from
North Korea, to meet Putin, U.S
and other officials told The New York Times.Vladivostok is hosting the Eastern Economic Forum from Sept
antitank missiles from North Korea, while Kim, who could even travel to Moscow, is reportedly in search of advanced technology for
satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation.Seoul's spy agency said this week that it was
closely monitoring the situation, warning that Kim could opt for an unexpected route when he travels to Russia."There is a possibility of
Kim Jong-un making a surprise move by choosing a different route than what is expected," a National Intelligence Service (NIS) official told
lawmakers, according to MP Yoo Sang-bum.
