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A close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia, the North's state media said Sunday, as bilateral ties deepen. Yonhap reports the official, considered one of Kim's closest aides, traveled with a party and government delegation. Dong-a Ilbo identifies the aide as Jo Yong-won, a Workers' Party organization secretary and director of the Organization and Guidance Department, who left Pyongyang on Nov. 14 for Moscow. The visit comes ahead of a trilateral summit involving the United States, China and Russia on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18, though Kim Jong-un is not expected to meet the U.S. president there, KBS World reports. Korean media frame the trip as high-level coordination between Pyongyang and Moscow amid growing cooperation, with Dong-a Ilbo noting the discussions likely cover further strengthening of ties.