Putin arrives on state visit to N. Korea

PYONGYANG. June 18 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived on a state visit to North Korea, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is meeting him at the airport.

It is the Russian leader's second visit in the entire history of bilateral Russian-North Korean relations, Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in 2000.

Putin is paying a friendly state visit at an invitation of the North Korean leader who had visited Russia last September. At that time, Kim visited the Amur region and the Khabarovsk and Primorye Territories, and the top-level talks took place at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Putin's visit to North Korea will last two days, the main one is June 19. Negotiations in various formats, including the main, one-on-one talks of the Russian and North Korean leaders, are planned for Wednesday.