Kim Jong Un hails ‘strong’ North Korea-Russia ties in message to Putin

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has emphasized the robustness of the relationship between North Korea and Russia, encapsulating it as a source of national pride in a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This correspondence, as reported by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sunday, highlights the evolving nature of their bilateral ties in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kim has publicly expressed his pride in the advancements that have been made in the relationship between the two nations, coupled with an optimistic outlook towards their potential future collaboration. He conveyed his anticipation of further enhancing the bilateral relationship alongside Putin, emphasizing the historical shared struggle as a cornerstone of their partnership.

Additionally, Kim expressed confidence in Russia's future under Putin's governance, foreseeing the President's ability to protect the country's territorial integrity. This sentiment was mirrored in a prior message Putin had sent to Kim on Friday, commemorating Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.

In this earlier letter, Putin characterized the relationship between Russia and North Korea as reaching an unprecedented level of comprehensive strategic partnership, asserting that their cooperation was already widespread across multiple sectors while striving jointly for regional security and stability.

The exchange between the two leaders comes amidst fresh allegations by Ukraine implicating Russia’s use of North Korean ballistic missiles in attacks on Ukrainian soil. These allegations have recently claimed that at least nine people were killed and dozens injured in a strike allegedly carried out using North Korean-made missiles.

Moreover, Ukraine has suggested the possibility of deploying up to 50,000 North Korean troops to Russia, though this claim lacks substantiated evidence and fails to specify a timeframe for such a deployment.

In response to these allegations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called upon South Korea to supply air defense systems to mitigate Russian missile attacks. However, South Korea has not yet responded positively to this request.