Putin wants more cooperation between Russia and North Korea

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 quoted by France’s AFP agency.

Putin said cooperation between the two countries would be beneficial for “enhancing stability and security in the Korean Peninsula and the wider Northeast Asian region”.

North Korea maintains close relations with Russia and is one of Moscow’s supporters in the war against Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.

North Korea today marks the day of Japan’s surrender in World War II (1939-1945), which marked the end of the occupation of Korean territory by Japanese forces.

Putin hailed Korean 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 “the 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 North Korean counterpart Kang Sun-nam.

Shoigu was in Pyongyang at the 70th anniversary ceremonies of the armistice of the Korean War (1950-1953), which led to the division of the Korean Peninsula into two countries.

In the conflict, which took place in the context of the Cold War, Russia and China sided with North Korea against South Korean forces, backed by an international United Nations force led by the United States.

The two Koreas signed a ceasefire on July 27, 1953, but never a peace treaty, so technically they are still at war.

Putin’s statement comes just days before a summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan to strengthen security cooperation in the face of an increasingly menacing North Korea.

The meeting of the leaders of the three countries will take place in Washington on Friday.

Relations between the two Koreas are at an impasse, with Kim Jong-un speaking of an accelerated arms race, including tactical nuclear weapons.