A new mutual-defense pact signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un commits each country to come to the other's aid if attacked.
Just what the threshold for such assistance would be is currently unclear -- maybe deliberately so, to deter other countries from putting it to the test. Putin initially told Russian media that the partnership provides for “mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties,” while North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency later reported that the pact's Article 4 called for assistance “in the event that either of the parties is invaded and pushed into a state of war."
