Two senior Russian politicians visited North Korea over the weekend, inaugurating a memorial to North Korean soldiers killed fighting against Ukraine and negotiating a new defense cooperation agreement lasting until 2031.
Military, political and economic cooperation between the two countries has intensified amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Pyongyang offering military support to Moscow, not least to push Ukrainian forces back from the Russian border area of Kursk.
Moscow and Pyongyang had already signed a mutual defense agreement through 2024 during a meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June.
Defense Minister praised the new military cooperation agreement
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea for talks with Kim and other officials, media in both countries reported on Sunday.
Belousov was set to hold talks with North Korea’s top leadership and senior military officers and attend “ceremonial and commemorative events” in the capital. Photos released by Russia’s Defense Ministry showed him embracing Kim.
“We agreed with the DPRK Defense Ministry to put our military cooperation on a stable, long-term basis,” Belousov said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name.
“We are ready to sign this year a plan for Russian-Korean military cooperation for the period 2027-2031,” he said. Defense Minister No Kwang was also involved in the conversation.
Duma chairman attends commemoration of North Korean soldiers killed fighting against Ukraine
Belousov also presented military awards to North Korean troops who fought against Ukrainian forces in the Russian border area of Kursk, parts of which Ukraine had seized for several months in a counter-offensive.
North Korea built a memorial in Pyongyang for its soldiers who died fighting against Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Putin sent a telegram to Kim on the occasion of the inauguration, thanking Kim and the troops for their efforts in helping reclaim the Kursk region for Russia.
Speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin attends an inauguration ceremony in the capital.
Casualties of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia are hard to come by, but South Korea estimated last September that about 2,000 soldiers had been killed. Only two North Korean soldiers have been captured by Ukrainian forces.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko