Kim returns following ‘successful’ summit with Putin

Seoul, April 27 (IANS) The leader of North Korea returned to Pyongyang following his "successful and historic" summit with the President of Russia, state media reported on Saturday.

Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin met in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Thursday in what was the first ever summit between the two leaders.

Kim arrived back in the North Korean capital in his special armored train and was received with a welcome ceremony attended by senior officials of the regime, the Workers' Party and the army, the KCNA news agency reported.

The North Korean news agency did not specify the exact time of Kim's return, after leaving Vladivostok on Friday following his meeting the previous day with Putin to discuss the process the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as well as bilateral ties, reported Efe news.

It also marked Kim's first visit abroad since the Hanoi summit in February with the President of the US, Donald Trump, which ended abruptly without an agreement on the denuclearization process that was underway.

On Friday, KCNA published comments made by Kim during the meeting with Putin in which he blamed the US for the failure of the summit at Hanoi for maintaining a unilateral position and warned that his country was prepared for any possible situation.

Putin expressed his support for the need to offer security guarantees in exchange for disarmament by Pyongyang, consistent with the position of another important partner of the North Korean regime.

Putin said that Pyongyang only needed security guarantees, and that it would require the US to show its desire for a constructive dialog.

Putin is an advocate of reviving six-party talks - consisting of China, North Korea, South Korea, the US, Japan and Russia - to ensure Pyongyang gets security guarantees in return for disarmament.