Grand celebration: People releasing balloons in the air as Putin and Kim attend a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. — AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a new partnership that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked, during a summit that came as both face escalating standoffs with the West.
It could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years yesterday, as the US and its allies express growing concerns over an arms arrangement in which the country provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.
The details of the partnership deal were not immediately clear, but both leaders described it as a major upgrade of their ties.
Kim said that the deal was the “strongest ever treaty” between the two nations, putting the relationship at the level of an alliance, and vowed full support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Putin said that it was a “breakthrough document” reflecting shared desire to move relations to a higher level.
Putin said that security and international issues took up a large part of the talks with Kim, according to Russian state media.
He was also quoted to say that Russia would not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea under the deal.
Kim was quoted as saying that the agreement was of a peaceful and defensive nature.
Cementing ties: Putin (left) and Kim leaving the hall after their meeting in Pyongyang. — AP
“I have no doubt it will become a driving force accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world,” he was quoted to say.
Russia and North Korea also signed agreements on cooperation in the fields of healthcare, medical education, and science, Russian state media reported, citing the Kremlin’s website.
Putin was met upon his nighttime arrival by Kim, who shook his hands, hugged him twice and rode with him from the airport in a limousine in a huge motorcade that rolled through the capital’s brightly illuminated streets, where buildings were decorated with giant Russian flags and portraits of Putin.
After spending the rest of the night at a state guest house, Putin attended a lavish welcoming ceremony at the city’s main square, where he and Kim saluted an honour guard and walked across a red carpet.
Kim then introduced key members of his leadership including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui; top aide and ruling party secretary Jo Yong-won; and the leader’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong.
The square was filled with what appeared to be tens of thousands of spectators, including children holding balloons and people wearing coordinated t-shirts in the red, white and blue of the Russian and North Korean flags.
Huge crowds lined up on the streets to greet Putin’s motorcade, chanting “Welcome Putin” and waving flowers and North Korean and Russian flags.
As the talks began, Putin thanked Kim for North Korea’s support for his war in Ukraine, part of what he said was a “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the US and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”
Putin hailed ties that he traced back to the Soviet army fighting the Japanese military on the Korean Peninsula in the closing moments of World War II, and Moscow’s support for Pyongyang during the Korean War.
Kim said Moscow and Pyongyang’s “fiery friendship” is now even closer than during Soviet times, and promised “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity.”
Kim has used similar language in the past, consistently saying North Korea supports what he describes as a just action to protect Russia’s interests and blaming the crisis on the US-led West’s “hegemonic policy”.
It wasn’t immediately clear what that support might look like. — AP
