Kim Jong-un has vowed to “hold hands” with Vladimir Putin in a message that marked another sign of deepening ties between North Korea and Russia.
In a message to Putin to mark Russia’s national day on Monday, the North Korean ruler pledged his regime’s “full support” for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the official KCNA news agency said.
“Justice is sure to win, and the Russian people will continue to add glory to the history of victory,” Kim said in an English translation of the message.
Pyongyang has been accused of providing weapons to Russia, while it continues to develop its own arsenal of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons despite years of sanctions imposed by the UN security council, of which Russia is a permanent member.
Russia appears to have turned to North Korea and other “rogue” nations in a desperate attempt to skirt sanctions and export controls to secure the weapons it needs to continue its 16-month war against Ukraine.
Kim, who met Putin for the first time in 2019, called for “closer strategic cooperation” between Pyongyang and Moscow, adding that he would “firmly hold hands” with the Russian leader in their common aim to build “a powerful country”, KCNA said.
North Korea has triggered international concern with its conspicuous attempts to move closer to the Kremlin, blaming the US and its allies for the war in Ukraine.
In March, the US said Moscow was sending a delegation to North Korea to offer food – amid reports of food shortages – in exchange for weapons, in violation of security council sanctions.
“As part of this proposed deal, Russia would receive over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions from Pyongyang,” White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said at the time.
Putin has responded to Kim’s overtures by in turn calling for closer ties. In an exchange of letters last August to mark liberation day – when the Koreas were liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 – Putin said Russia and North Korea would “continue to expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations” to strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and north-east Asia.
In July 2022, North Korea recognised two Russian-backed breakaway “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, with officials raising the prospect of North Korean workers being sent to there to help in construction and other sectors. Only North Korea and Syria recognise the Russian annexations.
