President Vladimir Putin said Russia and North Korea had taken relations to a “new level” and vowed to support each other if either country was attacked, a “groundbreaking” new partnership the Russian president announced during a rare visit to the isolated nation.
Thousands of North Koreans lined the city’s wide boulevards, waving Russian and North Korean flags and bouquets of flowers and chanting “Welcome, Putin.” Putin began his first visit to North Korea in 24 years with a carefully choreographed show of force at the authoritarian regime.
The two countries then signed a new strategic partnership to replace previous agreements from 1961, 2000 and 2001, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. “The Comprehensive Partnership Agreement signed today includes provisions for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against any of the parties to this agreement,” Putin said after the meeting.
He said the agreement covers “political, trade, investment, cultural and security fields” and described the agreement as a “truly groundbreaking document.”
Putin described the joint US, South Korea and Japan military exercises as “hostile” to North Korea and described US policy as “confrontational.” Meanwhile, Kim called the new “alliance” a “turning point in the development of bilateral relations.”
However, the agreement between the two dictators has also raised many questions. For example, will Russia’s nuclear deterrent extend to North Korea or vice versa, or will the two countries conduct joint military exercises in the future?
Putin is greeted with fanfare
Putin was enthusiastically congratulated at a welcoming ceremony in Kim Il Sung Square in the heart of the North Korean capital, where mounted soldiers, military personnel and children cheered as portraits of the two leaders held balloons against a backdrop of large clouds.
The two leaders introduced their respective officials and stood side by side as the Russian national anthem played before driving off shoulder to shoulder in an open limousine, smiling and waving to the crowds as they departed.
The staging reflected North Korea’s reliance on Moscow and was perhaps intended to remind the West that Putin still wields significant influence in at least some parts of the world, even after his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The relationship is also important to Russia. Several governments have accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Moscow for its brutal war in Ukraine, a charge both countries deny, but there is considerable evidence of such deliveries.
According to Russian state media, Putin presented Kim with an Auras when the two leaders exchanged gifts on Wednesday. It is the second time Putin has gifted the car model to the other country. Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Russian president also gave Kim a tea set. Ushakov did not say what Putin received but said “it was also a good gift.”
Putin landed in North Korea early Wednesday local time, 24 years after his last visit to Pyongyang. His visit heralded closer ties between the two countries amid shared hostility toward the West and international concerns over growing military cooperation between the two countries.
In remarks ahead of the meeting between the two countries, Kim expressed “full support and solidarity with the struggle of the Russian government, military and people,” and specifically referred to Moscow’s war in Ukraine “for its own sovereignty” and “to safeguard its security and territorial stability.”
“The situation remains complex and constantly changing, but I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that we will continue to strengthen and maintain close strategic communication with the (Russian) leadership,” Kim added.
According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, Putin praised the relationship between the two countries as being based on “equality and mutual respect,” and said the expected new bilateral agreements “will form the basis of long-lasting bilateral relations.” He added that he hoped Kim would come to Moscow for the next round of talks.
The close ties have raised concerns in both Seoul and Washington, not only about North Korean arms sales to Russia but also about the possibility that Russia could provide superior military technology to support North Korea’s heavily sanctioned weapons program.
‘Unwavering Support’
Kim, leader of a third-generation dynasty that has ruled North Korea with an iron fist, was visibly beaming as he welcomed Putin at the airport early Wednesday morning, video footage showed the Russian leader’s arrival.
The historic visit marks a major boost for Kim, who remains isolated on the world stage and has not welcomed any new leaders to the capital since the pandemic.
It comes at a time of continued high tensions on the Korean peninsula, where Kim has used more aggressive rhetoric in recent months and abandoned his long-held policy of peaceful unification with South Korea amid North Korean concerns about closer cooperation between the United States, South Korea and Japan.
North Korean state media appeared to make great use of Kim and Putin’s close ties, describing them as “people who exchanged pent-up innermost thoughts and opened their hearts to further develop (North Korea-Russia) relations.” The two drove together from the airport to Putin’s state guesthouse, Kumsusan.
Putin’s visit follows Kim’s historic visit to Russia last year and was widely seen as the two leaders starting a new chapter in their relationship, given Putin’s need for North Korean weapons for continued attacks.
Russia has received more than 10,000 shipping containers worth 260,000 tons of ammunition or ammunition accessories from North Korea since September, a U.S. statement said in February. U.S. officials said in March that the Russian military has also fired at least 10 North Korean missiles toward Ukraine since September.
It is widely believed that the Russian president wants to secure this continued support, which could be especially urgent as delayed US military aid to Ukraine takes effect.
Putin also sought to link today’s meeting to the historic ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. According to Russian state media TASS, Kim told him that the “heroic deeds of previous generations” are a “good basis for the development of relations” between the two countries.
Long story history
Putin last visited Pyongyang in 2000, where he met with Kim’s late father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il. The visit came just weeks after Putin had been inaugurated for his first term as president, and Putin was the first Russian leader to visit North Korea.
In 2001, the elder Kim traveled to Moscow for the meeting, tackling a nine-day marathon train journey across Russia. This was his second trip abroad, following his previous visit to China.
The two countries also signed a new cooperation agreement in 2000. Unlike the 1961 document between the Soviet Union and North Korea, this new document did not include any reference to mutual military defense assistance, but it was seen as an important step to reinvigorate a tense and close relationship.
The two neighbors have close ties on the Korean peninsula. Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, rose to power in the late 1940s as part of a Soviet effort to establish a communist-dominated government in the north to counter a U.S.-backed government in the south after the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. So it should be.
But the tightly integrated relationship has frayed and changed in the decades since, as the Soviet Union collapsed and the new state of Russia established diplomatic relations with Seoul and supported some UN sanctions against North Korea’s weapons programs.
The latest wave of diplomatic efforts comes as the two countries have grown closer over shared grievances against the West, a trend that observers say has been accelerated by the war in Ukraine and has given North Korea a powerful friend in the UN Security Council.
In March, Moscow vetoed a UN resolution that would have reinstated independent monitoring of North Korea’s violations of Security Council sanctions, raising concerns that the ties could weaken control over Kim’s illicit weapons development program.