North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presents a pair of Pungsan dogs to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday. (Image provided by Korean State media)
| Photo Credit: AP via KCNA

The story so far: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a “comprehensive strategic” partnership deal with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Wednesday as the two countries sought to deepen their security ties in a bid to challenge the West-dominated world order.

Mr. Putin was on a two-day visit to North Korea – his first in 24 years – and signed the deal that has been hailed as the “strongest between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War” by experts. Kim Jong-un has called it a ‘breakthrough” pact.

Also Read:Kim Jong Un was ‘sincere’ in denuclearisation talks: former South Korea president

What are the historical relations between Russia and North Korea?

Ties between Pyongyang and Moscow go back to the Soviet times. The Soviet Union was the first nation to recognise North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), when it came into existence in 1948 under Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung. Moscow supported DPRK in the 1950-53 Korean War while the U.S. supported the Republic of Korea (ROK), or South Korea. In a previously classified letter, which is now available in Wilson Centre’s digital archives, Kim Il-sung thanked Soviet leader Joseph Stalin for his “invaluable assistance” to DPRK’s “struggle for independence.”

Stalin’s support for DPRK in the Korean War, however, also benefited the leader’s larger ambition to push back the U.S. in the Cold War, which was evident from another “top secret” letter he wrote under the codename “Fillipov” in 1950. “One might ask why we have now returned to the Security Council. We have returned to continue exposing the aggressive policy of the American government and to prevent it from using the flag of the Security Council as a smokescreen for its aggression. Now that America has become aggressively involved in Korea, it will be very easy to achieve this goal while in the Security Council. I think that this is clear and needs no further explanation,” Stalin said in a letter to the Soviet ambassador in Prague.

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

Initially robust, relations between the countries declined as the rift between China and Russia grew after the Korean War ended. The Soviet Union also established diplomatic relations with ROK, further isolating DPRK in the region. Russia, which succeeded the Soviet Union, continued these diplomatic relations.

Mr. Putin’s election as President of Russia in 2000, however, somewhat turned the tide in favour of DPRK. After his election, he visited Pyongyang in July 2000, to meet Kim Jong-II, former leader of DPRK and Kim Jong-un’s father, and the two issued a joint criticism of U.S. missile defence plans.

In 2012, Russia agreed to write off 90% of North Korea’s estimated $11 billion debt, although Russia supported UN Security Council sanctions against the North between 2016 and 2017 as Kim Jong-un accelerated the country’s nuclear and missile tests. Kim-Jong un, in fact, attempted to improve his diplomatic ties with the U.S. and ROK in favour of his nuclear programme, while also working on relations with historical allies China and Russia.

Strategic visits by North Korean leaders to Russia are also symbolic of the cooperation between the two countries. Kim Jong-iI visited Russia in 2001, 2002, and in 2010; while his son and current leader Kim Jong-un visited Russia in 2019 and 2023. The two countries also share a land border.

What does the new deal entail?

According to DPRK’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un and Mr. Putin discussed a “series of important plans for safeguarding the common core interests while deepening the strategic partnership and alliance relations between the two countries.” The pact, officially called the “Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation,” calls for immediate military and other assistance “using all available means” if either party is involved in a war, which it claims is in alignment with Article 51 of the U.N. charter (dealing with self-defence.)

The treaty also talks about building a “just and multipolar new world order,” and taking joint actions to strengthen defence capabilities. Food, which is a chronic area of shortage for the DPRK, also finds mention in the treaty.

What does the deal mean in the current geopolitical context?

North Korea has, time and again, expressed its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022, alluding to a crucial positive era in its relationship with Russia. In July 2022, North Korea recognised Donetsk and Luhansk, in Ukraine’s Donbas region, as independent States after Russia and Syria did so. (Both these regions were annexed by Russia in September that year.) DPRK has, in the past, also blamed the Russia-Ukraine crisis on U.S.-led West’s “hegemonic policy”.

The U.S. and South Korea believe DPRK has been supplying Russia artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, as Russia continues to wage the largest land war in Europe since the end of the Second World War. Russia, which has a vibrant military-industrial base, is reportedly sourcing weapons from North Korea and Iran, while the U.S. and European nations continue to assist Ukraine.

In October 2023, Beyond Parallel, a U.S.-based think tank, reported a “dramatic increase” in freight rail traffic on the land border between Russia and DPRK following a summit between Mr. Kim and Mr. Putin. “Given that Kim and Putin discussed some military exchanges and cooperation at their recent summit, the dramatic increase in rail traffic likely indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia. However, the extensive use of tarps to cover the shipping crates/containers and equipment makes it impossible to conclusively identify what is seen at (North Korea’s) Tumangang Rail Facility,” the organisation said. Both Russia and North Korea have denied any weapons sale. Experts also believe North Korea is leveraging high-tech nuclear weapons and missile technologies from Russia in exchange for the arms.

Russia has also been a significant supplier of energy to North Korea— even more important after it suffered huge losses in revenue as Europe cut off trade with the country following its invasion of Ukraine. U.S., as a common adversary, also brings Russia and North Korea together as both countries attempt to create a shift in global power away from the West, with China on their side.

In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, center right, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, center left, visit the Admiral Shaposhnikov frigate of the Russian navy in the port of Vladivostok, Russian Far East Saturday, on September 16, 2023
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on September 16, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin’s Defence Minister.

A smiling Mr. Kim was greeted in Russia’s Knevichi airfield, about 50 km (30) miles from the Pacific city of Vladivostok, by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who saluted Mr. Kim. The North Korean leader then inspected a guard of honour.

The United States and South Korea fear the revival of Moscow’s friendship with Pyongyang could give Mr. Kim access to some of Russia’s sensitive missile and other technology while helping arm Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Mr. Shoigu showed Kim Mr. Russia’s strategic bombers — the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 — which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of Russia’s nuclear air attack force, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

“It can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again,” Mr. Shoigu told Mr. Kim of one aircraft.

Mr. Kim was shown asking about how the missiles were fired from the aircraft, at times nodding and smiling.

Mr. Shoigu showed him the MiG-31I supersonic interceptor aircraft equipped with “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles. The Kinzhal, or dagger, is an air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads.

It has a reported range of 1,500 to 2,000 km (930-1,240 miles) while carrying a payload of 480 kg (1,100 pounds). It may travel at up to 10 times the speed of sound (12,000 kph, 7,700 mph).

After the aircraft and missiles, Mr. Kim inspected the warship of Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok, where he was due to watch a demonstration by the Russian navy.

South Korea and the United States said on Friday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia violated U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang and that the allies would ensure there was a price to pay.

Russia has gone out of its way to publicise Mr. Kim’s visit and drop repeated hints about the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was formed in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union.

For Mr. Putin, who says Moscow is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Mr. Kim allows him to needle Washington and its Asian allies while potentially securing a deep supply of artillery for the Ukraine war.

Washington has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, which has the world’s biggest store of nuclear warheads, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have been made.

Mr. Kim on Friday inspected a Russian fighter jet factory that is under Western sanctions.

He and Mr. Putin discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and deepening cooperation when they met on Wednesday. Putin told reporters Russia was “not going to violate anything”, but would keep developing relations with North Korea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had not been a plan to sign any formal agreements during the visit.

Russian diplomats said Washington had no right to lecture Moscow after the United States had bolstered its allies across the world, including with a visit of a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to South Korea in July.