North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is on his way for two-day talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A special train carrying him and his entourage arrived in the Russian Far East Thursday en route to Moscow. This is the first Moscow trip by a North Korean head of state since Mr. Kim's father, the late President Kim Il Sung, visited the Kremlin 15 years ago.

In contrast to improved ties between South Korea and Russia, relations between Pyongyang and Moscow cooled following the Soviet Union's collapse. But cooperation between the two former Cold War allies resumed and expanded after they signed a new treaty of friendship and cooperation in February last year and after Mr. Putin visited Pyongyang in July. In June, Russia agreed to receive North Korean trainees.

Mr. Kim was to make a return visit to Moscow this spring. But it was put on hold as Pyongyang waited to see how U.S. President George W. Bush's administration would deal with the North. The Republican president has taken a tougher stance on the North Korean issue than did his Democratic predecessor. In his meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, Bush expressed his distrust of the North, embarrassing Mr. Kim, who is anxious to promote inter-Korean cooperation.