Putin Says Russia, North Korea Will Expand Bilateral Relations
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un that he wishes to develop ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to state media.
North Korea’s KCNA news agency said on Monday that Putin sent a letter to Kim on the 77th anniversary of the end of Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula, saying closer ties would be in the interest of both of their countries, Al Jazeera reported.
Russia and North Korea will “continue to expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts,” Putin wrote, adding that this would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the Northeastern Asian region.
Kim also sent a letter to Putin saying Russian-North Korean friendship had been forged in World War II with victory over Japan, which had occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
The “strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity” between the two countries has since reached a new level, Kim wrote, particularly in their common efforts to frustrate threats and provocations from hostile military forces.
KCNA did not identify the hostile forces, but it has typically used that term to refer to the United States and its allies.
Kim predicted cooperation between Russia and North Korea would grow based on an agreement signed in 2019 when he met with Putin.
North Korea in July recognized two Russian-backed breakaway “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, and officials raised the prospect of North Korean workers being sent to the areas to help in construction and other labor.
Ukraine immediately severed relations with Pyongyang over the move.