Factbox-Who is accompanying North Korea's Kim on trip to Russia?

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Top military commanders, arms industry officials and diplomats accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip to Russia, hinting at a potentially defence-heavy agenda for meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

North Korea did not name the members of the delegation, but analysts identified several key figures who appear to be accompanying Kim in photos and footage released by North Korean and Russian state media on Tuesday and Wednesday.

DEFENCE LEADERS

Ri Pyong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Military Commission and marshal of the army, the country's top military rank, was seen alongside Kim and Putin at Vostochny Cosmodrome. A former top air force commander overseeing North Korea's defence industry, including its nuclear and missile programmes, Ri was once educated in Russia and travelled to the country with Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

Two officials who together with Ri have played a key role in missile development - Kim Jong Sik, a veteran rocket scientist, and Jang Chang Ha, who was promoted to general following a successful launch in November of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile - were spotted at the cosmodrome.

Among other delegates were Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam, Marshal Pak Jong Chon, new head of the party's military political leadership; Pak Thae Song, a party secretary and chairman of a national space science and technology committee involved in a spy satellite programme; and Jo Chun Ryong, director of the Munitions Industry Department, who assisted Kim during his recent visits to a munitions factory and missile plant.

Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said the participants suggested Kim and Putin would mainly focus on defence and security cooperation, including a possible agreement for munitions purchases led by Jo.

POWER PLAYERS

Kim Yo Jong, Kim's powerful sister and a senior party official, was seen aiding him as he signed the visitor book at the cosmodrome. She has played a high-profile role in supporting her brother's past summits.

Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui was one of the first officials to appear with Kim after his train arrived in the Russian border city of Khasan on Tuesday, before attending his talks with Putin.

A longtime nuclear negotiator and seasoned diplomat, Choe was instrumental during Kim's summits with former U.S. President Donald Trump, and promoted to the current position last year after a brief demotion following their failed 2019 summit in Vietnam.

ECONOMIC OFFICIALS

Some officials handling economic affairs appear to be accompanying Kim, raising the possibility that he and Putin might discuss economic cooperation and food aid.

They include O Su Yong, a party secretary and director of the economy department; Pak Hun, vice premier of the cabinet responsible for construction; and Han Kwang Sang, chief of the party's light industry department.

An official at Seoul's Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said Kim and Putin could explore ways to return North Korean labourers to Russia, banned under the U.N. Security Council sanctions.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Josh Smith and Ju-min Park; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Alex Richardson)