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According to Pyongyang's official media on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin assures Kim Jong Un that his country and Russia will "expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with joint efforts."
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in a letter to Kim Jong Un on Korea's liberation day that tighter ties would be in both countries interests and would help boost the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the Northeast Asian area, according to North Korea's KCNA news agency.
Kim Jong Un also wrote to Putin, claiming that victory against Japan, which had colonized the Korean peninsula, had cemented Russian-North Korean friendship.
Russia, North Korea To Expand Bilateral Relations
The two nations' "strategic and tactical collaboration, support, and solidarity" have now reached a new level in their joint efforts to defy threats and provocations from hostile armed forces, according to Kim's letter. KCNA did not name the hostile forces, but it has traditionally used the word to allude to the US and its allies.
Kim Jong Un projected that cooperation between Russia and North Korea will develop as a result of an agreement reached with Putin in 2019.
North Korea recognized two Russian-backed separatist people's republics in eastern Ukraine as independent entities in July, and authorities hinted that North Korean personnel would be deployed there to help with building and other activities. Ukraine, which is battling a Russian invasion dubbed by Moscow as a "special military operation," cut ties with Pyongyang immediately in response to the action, according to Reuters via MSN.
The communist nation, one of the most isolated in the world, is one of the few to back Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. While many Western countries are distanced from Moscow by imposing sanctions and prohibiting travel there, Putin has found supporters in North Korea, Belarus, China, and Iran.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has publicly supported Putin's attempts, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has remained neutral. However, commerce between China and Russia has expanded dramatically, with Russian oil imports increasing by 55%. According to the Express, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji stated in June that Russian-Iranian bilateral commerce reached $40 billion in the previous 18 months, a tenfold rise from $4 billion in 2021.
Putin Allegedly Looks For Security Through Allies
Ukraine claims that Iran has provided Putin with military technologies such as armed drones and satellites. According to Russian official media, Kim Jong Un allegedly offered the Kremlin 100,000 of his troops to aid in the war effort. Relations between Russia and North Korea date back to the Soviet Union when the USSR provided help to its ally.
North Korea has been thrown into acute poverty since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 since Russia no longer accepts the nearly worthless North Korean currency as payment for commodities. There are fears that if Putin chooses to reestablish relations to pre-Soviet levels he may start sending items to North Korea for next to nothing, as per Express.
North Korea's foreign ministry slammed the UN Secretary General's statements on his support for the North's total disarmament, saying they lacked objectivity and justice.
North Korea's main news agency KCNA stated the foreign ministry after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday that he fully supports efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, and authorities in Seoul and Washington believe it is ready to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017, despite delayed disarmament negotiations, Business World reported.
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