A North Korean official on an official visit to Russia drowned while swimming in a lake outside Moscow, Russian media reported.

His name is the same as that of a man reported by the media as the head of a military training corps.

The BAZA news outlet, which often publishes information from security and law enforcement sources, said the official, Kim Geum Chol, died on July 11 in a lake in Zelenograd, a city about 37 km northwest of Moscow. .

North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency reported earlier this month that an elite North Korean military training delegation flew to Russia on July 8, the first exchange of military-level officials between the two countries since their leaders signed a pact for closer military cooperation.

KCNA reported that Kim Geum Chol, who was president of Kim Il Sung Military University, led the delegation. North Korean President Kim Jong Un attended the military academy after studying in Switzerland, while he was destined to become the third leader of North Korea.

North Korea’s embassy in Moscow did not respond to a Reuters request today to confirm the death and identity of Kim Geum Chol.

Moscow police, who have not publicly commented on the incident, are looking into the circumstances of the incident, the SHOT Telegram channel reported separately.

Both BAZA and SHOT emphasized that the deceased was on an official visit and that he was staying at the North Korean embassy in Moscow. Neither of the two men reported any connection to military training, saying only that they had worked in the agricultural sector.

BAZA reported that Kim Geum Chol traveled, accompanied by an interpreter, to Bolsoi Gorodskoi Lake in Zelenograd to cool off from the high temperatures.

BAZA and SHOT said the interpreter last saw Kim before he went swimming and contacted the police.

His body was found the next day floating in the lake. According to these media, he was 64 years old.

The incident comes as senior North Korean and Russian officials made official visits to each other in record numbers last year, culminating in President Vladimir Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years.

The two countries’ military ties are causing concern for officials in Seoul and Washington, who say there is evidence of North Korean arms shipments to Russia and use of those weapons in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Pyongyang and Moscow deny this claim.