North Korea and Russia ratify their expanded defense cooperation treaty
The agreement establishes a mutual defense mechanism between the two countries in case of military aggression. It heightens fears of North Korean involvement on the Ukrainian front lines.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un
North Korea and Russia have taken the step and finally ratified their defense cooperation agreement, the most broad and multilateral in this field between the two nations to date. The state press announced the news on Tuesday. This pact deepens the agreements between Putin and Kim Jong Un in the military field.
The signing of this pact comes after Western and South Korean intelligence agencies warned, with subsequent confirmation from the Pentagon, that North Korean troops were deployed in Russia. According to the Defense Department, there are fears that these troops will be deployed on the Ukrainian front, something that has prompted negative comments from the international community.
Russia and North Korea are forging ahead with the full signing of this defense agreement. Doing so sends a message to the rest of the world. The North Korean regime's news agency, KCNA, assured that the agreement "was ratified as a decree" signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The treaty provides reciprocal "immediate military assistance" in case of an attack against one of the two countries.
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The signing of the pact also follows Putin’s visit to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and was received with all the honors that the biggest supporter of the Kim Jong Un regime, along with China, deserves.
North Korea has also become an important Russian ally in the Ukrainian war. North Korean has supplied large numbers of Russian artillery, which has been used in Moscow's offensives against the Kharkov region, northern Ukraine.
North Korea's military aid has been provided to the 12,000 North Korean troops that intelligence agencies say landed in eastern Russia last October. According to the same information, the first troops of this force, which Pyongyang denies, have already moved to the Ukrainian border.
The North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choe Son Hui, recently traveled to Moscow, where she stated that her country would "stand firmly on the side of the Russian comrades until the day of victory.”
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