New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday met his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang in an effort to shore up support, especially military aid, from one of Moscow’s strongest supporters in its war against Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the two leaders signed a new treaty on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that reinforces military cooperation to include a mutual pledge to help each other if attacked.
According to Russian state-owned news agency TASS, the new document was needed because of the “profound” changes in the geopolitical situation across the globe and within the region specifically.
Putin’s first visit to the country in 24 years comes when both Moscow and Pyongyang are attempting to jointly build an anti-US front — which the Russian president called a “global neo-colonial dictatorship relying on double standards”, in an article in the North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun Tuesday.
Putin and Kim lead two countries that face some of the toughest sanctions from Western powers and the United Nations.
The developing partnership between Russia and North Korea has alarmed the West, especially given the latter’s continued nuclear weapons programme that poses a threat to its neighbour South Korea.
Putin has also built a personal relationship with Kim Jong-Un. In February, the Russian president gifted Kim an Aurus — a Russian luxury armoured limousine. It was reported that Kim used the same vehicle to pick the Russian president up from the airport Tuesday evening.
According to media reports, Putin has gifted Kim a second Aurus limousine during the current visit to Pyongyang. The gifts, which contravene United Nations sanctions, came after Kim expressed his liking for the vehicle during his visit to Russia in September 2023.
In February this year, at a United Nations Security Council meeting, the US had accused Russia of using North Korea-supplied ballistic missiles at least nine times in Ukraine, a charge both nations deny.
Russia has faced tough sanctions, including from the global financial system and asset freezes to the tune of $300 billion, since it began its “special military operation” against Ukraine in 2022.
The US and its allies accuse China, Iran and North Korea of aiding Russia to prop up the war in Ukraine, as the country faces material shortage due to the Western sanctions against it. For Russia, North Korean military support is pivotal for its operations in Ukraine.
Since 2006, North Korea has faced a myriad of sanctions implemented by the United Nations Security Council, with Russian support, after it conducted its first explosive nuclear test. Everything from seafood to heavy weaponry, to missile technology, agricultural and labour exports and oil imports have been restricted by the UNSC over the years.
However, this has not prevented North Korea from conducting further nuclear weapon tests. After 2006, the country has conducted at least five more tests — 2009, 2013, twice in 2016 and 2017 — according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Weapons supplied by North Korea to Russia
North Korea’s latest set of short-range ballistic missile systems (SRBMs), the Hwasong-11, first tested in 2019 and designated as KN23 and KN24 by the US, has been used by Russia in Kharkiv earlier this year, according to United Nations sanctions monitors.
In October 2023, a few weeks after Kim’s visit to Russia, the US said that North Korea had reportedly sent nearly 1,000 containers of arms to the US. By March this year, that number had increased to 7,000 containers sent from Pyongyang to Moscow, according to media reports.
South Korea in November 2023 said that North Korean arms exports to Russia included rifles, rocket launchers, mortars in addition to SRBMs, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles, according to reports.
Due to sanctions over the years, North Korea has been unable to upgrade its weapons system with the latest available technology. However, since 2016, the country has been pursuing the development of more sophisticated missile systems with “progressively longer ranges,” according to SIPRI.
Earlier this year, Russia vetoed the annual renewal of the United Nations (UN) sanctions monitors, a panel of experts, who for the last 15 years have monitored the enforcement of the UN sanctions against North Korea.
The West fears that North Korea would in-exchange gain the sophisticated technology required to upgrade its own missile programmes, as well as access to Russian oil and other armaments.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)