North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a birthday message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him his “closest partner”.
Congratulating Putin on his 72nd birthday, Kim said that relations between the two countries will reach a new level.
Relations between Pyongyang and Moscow have deepened since the start of the Ukraine war – in a move that has alarmed the West.
Separately on Tuesday, Kim said Pyongyang would take steps to make his country a military superpower with nuclear weapons.
Kim praised relations between the two countries, saying they have become “invincible and eternal” since Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June, according to Yonhap News, citing North Korean state media KCNA.
“The meetings and friendly relations between us… will make a positive contribution to further strengthening the eternal foundation of DPRK-Russia friendship,” he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Relations between North Korea and Russia go back decades – dating back to Stalin and Kim Il-sung, the current Kim’s grandfather. The Soviet Union supported North Korea with weapons and technology in the early days, and Pyongyang never wanted to rely completely on China—which it does not fully trust.
Earlier this year, Putin and Kim signed an agreement promising to help each other in the event of “aggression” against any country — though it was not clear what that aggression would be. .
Kim has been accused of helping Russia in its war against Ukraine by supplying weapons in exchange for economic and technological aid.
The evidence is increasing That Russia is deploying North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
For Putin, this relationship is probably more tactical than strategic. He needs support for his war in Ukraine and North Korea will certainly be willing to sell him whatever he has and is willing to pay for it.
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, previously said that both Kim and Putin were “trying to ease the pain of international sanctions by building an alternative network of friends and partners beyond the reach of US sanctions”.
North Korea could certainly benefit significantly from access to Russian military technology – which, despite Russia’s problems, is still far more advanced than North Korea’s home-grown and reverse-engineered systems.
North Korea is primarily trying to perfect its nuclear and missile arsenal. It has made astonishing progress in the last decade in building new missile systems and miniaturizing its nuclear devices.
But Russia has far more advanced thermonuclear warhead designs, re-entry vehicle designs, and solid rocket motor designs.
During Kim’s visit to Russia in September 2023, Putin promised to help North Korea develop its satellites after several failed launches by Pyongyang.
Separately, a South Korean lawmaker also claimed Tuesday that Seoul’s military has received clear indications that North Korea has begun building a possible nuclear-powered submarine.
Citing Korea’s intelligence agency, Rep. Kang Dae-sik said construction is still in the early stages and “further confirmation is needed on whether it is nuclear powered or not”.
