Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea on Wednesday, the Kremlin announced, at the start of a visit aimed at strengthening defense relations between the two nuclear-armed countries at a time when Moscow continues its war in Ukraine.
Shortly after Putin’s arrival late on Tuesday night, Russian television showed scenes showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receiving the Russian president on a red carpet at Pyongyang airport. The two leaders shook hands and embraced before Putin’s motorcade set off through streets lined with Russian flags.
This is Putin’s first visit to the isolated country in 24 years, at a time when the border between Seoul and Pyongyang is witnessing tensions after dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border with the South, but they turned back after the South Korean army fired warning shots.
In another incident, a number of North Korean soldiers stationed near the border with South Korea were injured in a land mine explosion, Yonhap Agency also reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Army.
The alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang began since the founding of North Korea after World War II, and their relationship has become even closer since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the West’s move to isolate Putin on the international stage.
According to the West, Pyongyang used its huge stock of munitions to supply Russia with large quantities of them, and the Pentagon accused Moscow last week of using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine.
Washington and Seoul say that Russia, in return, provided North Korea with the necessary expertise for its satellite program and sent aid to confront food shortages in the country.
Although North Korea denied supplying Russia with military equipment, Putin before his trip thanked Kim Jong Un’s government for its contribution to the war effort.
“We highly appreciate the strong support of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) for the special military operations carried out by Russia in Ukraine,” Putin said in an article published by the North’s Korean Central News Agency, adding that the two countries are working to expand their “mutual and equal cooperation.”
Both countries are subject to sanctions. Pyongyang has been subject to UN sanctions imposed since 2006 due to its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, and Moscow has been subject to Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin praised North Korea for “effectively defending the interests of (the two countries) despite decades-long economic pressure, provocations, blackmail, and American military threats.”
He also praised Moscow and Pyongyang “for maintaining their common approach and positions at the United Nations.”
North Korea said the visit shows that bilateral relations are “getting stronger day by day.” North Korea described Western accusations of supplying Russia with weapons as “ridiculous.”
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