Russian President Vladimir Putin called for closer cooperation with Pyongyang on Tuesday in a congratulatory message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Liberation Day, the Kremlin (Russian presidency) announced.
“I am convinced that we will continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation in all areas,” Putin told Kim, according to a Kremlin statement cited by the French agency AFP.
Putin said cooperation between the two countries would be beneficial to “improve stability and security on the Korean Peninsula and the broader Northeast Asia region.”
North Korea has close relations with Russia and is one of Moscow’s supporters in the war against Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.
North Korea commemorates this Tuesday the day of the surrender of Japan in World War II (1939-1945), which marked the end of the occupation of Korean territory by Japanese troops.
Putin hailed Korea Liberation Day as a “symbol of the courage and heroism of Red Army soldiers and Korean patriots who fought together” against “Japanese colonialism.”
It was at that time that “traditions of friendship and cooperation were born that became a solid foundation for the development of good neighborly relations between the Russian Federation and North Korea,” he said.
On July 27, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu described North Korea as an “important partner” for Moscow during a meeting in Pyongyang with his North Korean counterpart Kang Sun-nam.
Shoigu was in Pyongyang for ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War (1950-1953) armistice, which saw the Korean Peninsula split into two countries.
In the conflict, which took place against the backdrop of the Cold War, Russia and China sided with North Korea against South Korean forces, which were supported by a US-led international UN force.
The two Koreas signed a ceasefire on July 27, 1953, but never a peace treaty, so they are technically still at war.
Putin’s statement comes just days before a summit of South Korea, the United States and Japan to strengthen security cooperation in the face of an increasingly threatening North Korea.
The meeting of the leaders of the three countries will take place on Friday in Washington.
Relations between the two Koreas have stalled as Kim Jong-un talks of an accelerating arms race, including tactical nuclear weapons.
Source: TSF
