SEOUL, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit North Korea and Vietnam in the next few weeks, a news report said Monday. Putin is expected to make the trip to Pyongyang as early as this month before paying a visit to Hanoi, according to the Russian daily Vedomosti. If realized, it will mark a reciprocal visit by the Russian leader after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un traveled to Russia's Far East in September last year for a summit with Putin. It will also mark Putin's first visit to the North in 24 years. North Korea and Russia have increasingly been stepping up military ties and expanding the scope of cooperation since the leaders' summit. Their tightening relationship has stoked concerns over suspected arms transfers between the two countries, in which Pyongyang has been providing weapons and munitions to Moscow for use in its war in Ukraine in exchange for Russia's assistance in advanced military technologies. Source: Yonhap News Agency