Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not anticipated to visit Russia anytime soon, a Russian news agency has reported, citing a Kremlin spokesperson. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded "No" when questioned by reporters about the possibility of Kim visiting Russia soon, including during the Eastern Economic Forum scheduled for September in Vladivostok, near the North Korean border.

According to Yonhap News Agency, satellite images indicate that North Korea is likely preparing mass gymnastics to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its ruling party's founding in October. This event would mark the first mass gymnastics performance in five years. Images captured by Sentinel-2 satellites, part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program, revealed a large rectangular white screen covering the lawn at Pyongyang's Rungrado May 1 Stadium.

Meanwhile, a former senior U.S. diplomat, Kurt Campbell, cautioned against any significant adjustment to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troop level. He asserted that such changes could be "misinterpreted" as a sign of America's reduced security commitment to South Korea and the broader Indo-Pacific region, amid speculation that President Donald Trump's administration might consider a drawdown of the 28,500-strong USFK.

In related developments, South Korea, the United States, and Japan conducted joint air drills on Wednesday to enhance trilateral security cooperation against North Korean threats, marking the first such exercise since President Lee Jae Myung took office. The last joint air drills among the three nations took place on January 15, involving two U.S. B-1B bombers.

Additionally, South Korea and the United States plan to hold the fifth meeting of their key nuclear deterrence body in Seoul next month. The specific date for this meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) is yet to be determined. This decision follows an agreement made during the fourth NCG meeting in Washington in January.

In another development concerning North Korea, the British defense ministry estimates that North Korea has sustained over 6,000 casualties in the Ukraine conflict. This figure represents more than half of the troops initially deployed by Pyongyang in Russia's Kursk region. The ministry shared this assessment in an X post, following an earlier estimate of over 5,000 North Korean troop casualties reported in April.