Russia and North Korea sign partnership deal, vowing closer ties as rivalry deepens with West

Putin and Kim Jong-un sign partnership deal in Pyongyang, expanding economic and military cooperation against Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a partnership deal during a summit in Pyongyang, in a bid to expand their economic and military cooperation and cement a united front against Washington.

Mr. Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years comes amid 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 Mr. Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.

Huge crowds lined up on the streets to greet Mr. Putin’s motorcade, chanting “Welcome Putin” and waving flowers and North Korean and Russian flags, and Mr. Kim welcomed Mr. Putin with a lavish ceremony in the city’s main Kim Il Sung square, where members of a crowd wore coordinated t-shirts in the red, white and blue of the Russian and North Korean flags.

Speaking at the start the talks, Mr. Putin thanked Mr. 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 U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”

He said the two planned to sign a “new fundamental document [that] will form the basis of our ties for the long term”, hailing 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.

Mr. 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”.

Mr. 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 U.S.-led West’s “hegemonic policy.”