North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to “unconditionally support” Russia in its invasion of Ukraine at talks with President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang that emphasized deepening ties amid U.S. concerns about arms supplies to the Kremlin’s war machine.
The two leaders signed a deal Wednesday to come to the other’s aid if attacked, rekindling an agreement dating back to the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was the main backer for Pyongyang. Kim said the agreement elevated relations with Russia to an alliance.
“I would like to stress that the birth of this treaty, the most powerful treaty in the history of North Korea-Russia relations, was possible thanks to President Putin’s outstanding foresightedness and bold determination,” Kim said.
While Kim added the military deal is for defensive purposes, it raises the risks for the US and its partners in responding to provocations from Moscow and Pyongyang and is a symbol of their defiance against Western powers.
“Russia hasn’t been an active player in Asia for a long time, both militarily and diplomatically. But its upgraded and comprehensive relationship with North Korea means that Asia has now quickly woken up to a threat by another big power,” said Duyeon Kim, a Seoul-based adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “An inadvertent conflict based on miscalculation could potentially escalate to a regional or world war.”
The accord was signed during the Russian leader’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years. Kim said Russia is playing a critical role in keeping a strategic balance in the world.
“Today we have prepared a new fundamental document that will form the basis of our relations for the long term,” Putin told the North Korean leader. “We highly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including in the Ukrainian direction.”
Kim said his country would “unwaveringly, unconditionally support Russia’s every policy regardless of any complication on the international geopolitical situation going forward.”
Putin’s visit came hours after the first high-level security talks between China and South Korea in about nine years on Tuesday. After the Soviet collapse and the rise of China as an economic power, Beijing has been Pyongyang’s main benefactor. But the deepening relationship between Kim and Putin may be leading to a realignment.
“This won’t be exactly what China would have wanted. More military tension in the region would mean an increased U.S. military presence,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. “It gives another reason for the U.S. to strengthen its trilateral partnership with South Korea and Japan.”
