Russian dictator Vladimir Putin received a lavish welcome in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Tuesday night and met with Kim Jong Un throughout Wednesday, signing a treaty calling for both countries to act if either comes under military attack.
Putin Confirmed He said the “comprehensive partnership” agreement “provides for mutual assistance if any of the parties to the treaty is aggressed,” and hailed the pact as a “landmark document” needed to improve already friendly relations between Moscow and Pyongyang.
North Korea was a staunch ally of the Soviet Union during the time of its founding and has maintained friendly ties with Russia for decades.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, drives a Russian Aurus limousine while Russian President Vladimir Putin sits to his left during talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Gabriel Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via The Associated Press)
But Kim has prioritized bilateral relations, visiting Russia in September on his first overseas trip since the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan and vocally supporting Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea and the Soviet Union signed a mutual defense pact in 1961, but the Russian Federation had not revived the agreement until this week.
Putin has similarly focused diplomatic efforts on strengthening ties with Kim Jong Un, but before the current communist dictatorship took over North Korea made little effort to strengthen ties with Russia, and Putin had only visited North Korea once before this week, in 2000.
Putin arrived in North Korea on Tuesday after a short stop in eastern Siberia. Kim Jong Un was the first to greet Putin upon his arrival, a high sign of respect in a country where it is legal to worship Kim as a god. Requirements.
🇷🇺🇵 Russian President Vladimir Putin #north korea The friendly state visit was made at the invitation of North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un.
Kim Jong Un personally welcomed President Vladimir Putin at Pyongyang airport. pic.twitter.com/h3YUNXKfKQ
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) June 18, 2024
On Wednesday, the two leaders it was fun Russian news agency TASS reported that Putin enjoyed a friendly drive around the North Korean capital in a Russian Aurus car.
“The leaders drove at a fair speed for several kilometres along the park’s two-lane road,” TASS claimed. “They then got out of the car and walked through the park grounds, which were covered with greenery and rose bushes.”
🇵 An official welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin by North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un was held at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, during which the two leaders introduced members of their respective delegations.#RussiaNorthKorea 🇷🇺🇵 pic.twitter.com/mfq7mr0YCp
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) June 19, 2024
The official newspaper of the North Korean communist regime, Labor Newspaperreported that Kim Jong Un drove to the state guesthouse with Putin, where the two “shared secrets that they had kept secret until now.” The propaganda outlet declared that the ties between Russia and North Korea are “a strong strategic fortress and a driving force for safeguarding international justice, peace and security.”
In a public ceremony decorated with large balloons and a giant portrait of Putin, Putin was greeted by indoctrinated North Korean children and marching soldiers in Kim Il-sung Square.
🇵 An official welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin by North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un was held at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, during which the two leaders introduced members of their respective delegations.#RussiaNorthKorea 🇷🇺🇵 pic.twitter.com/mfq7mr0YCp
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) June 19, 2024
After wide-ranging talks on Wednesday, the two leaders held a tightly controlled press conference to announce the mutual defense pact.
“Now, with the whole world’s attention on Pyongyang as the Russian friendship mission arrives, I stand in this solemn hall together with our Russian comrades, true friends and associates,” Kim Jong Un said. DeclaredHe praised the “very strong treaty” that had just been signed and praised Putin as a “true friend.”
The communist country’s state media repeatedly called Putin “comrade,” a term in communist jargon that usually indicates ideological agreement.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency Observed The full text of the treaty has not yet been made public, as the article was written without the release of the text. ShownBut the treaty could lead to “military and technical cooperation”, raising global concerns that North Korea could be sending munitions to Russia to aid its invasion of Ukraine.
In February, the US State Department claimed that North Korea shipped more than 10,000 containers of munitions to Russia between September 2023 and February 2024, signaling both the expansion of the alliance and Russia’s struggle to secure its stockpiles given that North Korea is one of the world’s poorest countries.
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Jack Knudsen/Breitbart News
“The relationship between our two countries has reached new heights in our alliance,” Kim Jong Un reportedly declared alongside Putin. “I am very pleased that we have been able to conclude this excellent treaty, which is in keeping with the changed international situation and the strategic nature of the new North Korea-Russia relations.”
In his meeting with Kim, Putin repeated talking points favorable to North Korea, including calling for the lifting of the harsh sanctions regime imposed on North Korea in response to its illegal nuclear weapons program and its decades-long history of routinely abusing its people.
“I would like to point out that the UN Security Council’s indefinite restrictive regime against North Korea, inspired by the United States and its allies, must be revised,” Putin said. DeclaredAccording to TASS.
“We will continue to oppose the practice of sanctions as a tool routinely used by Western countries to maintain their hegemony in politics, the economy and other spheres.”
Images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin are shown on a television screen during a news program at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Yong-jun)
The Putin administration has supported the current UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, imposed in 2017 following North Korea’s last nuclear bomb test.
Putin also appeared to support North Korea’s illicit nuclear program on Wednesday. state“North Korea has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its defense capabilities, ensure national security and safeguard its sovereignty.”
North Korea has not conducted any nuclear tests since 2017, before the UN sanctions were imposed, but has added 20 nuclear bombs to its arsenal by 2023, according to an annual assessment published by Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
