North Korea's Kim Jong Un vows full backing for Vladimir Putin as ties with Russia deepen

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his pledge to unconditionally support Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media said, as the sanctions-defying alliance between the two countries raises security concerns in the region.

In a meeting with a top security aide to Putin, Sergei Shoigu, in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea will “unconditionally support” Russia and “its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.

The two countries agreed to expand their relations “into the powerful and comprehensive relations of strategic partnership,” KCNA said.

Shoigu’s visit came as South Korea swore in new President Lee Jae-myung, a liberal from the Democratic Party, after months of political instability. Lee, who campaigned on reopening dialogue with Pyongyang, pledged in his victory speech to “stabilize the situation on the Korean Peninsula as quickly as possible” to reduce geopolitical risk.

It remains unclear whether Kim will respond to Lee’s overture. The North Korean leader has increasingly aligned with Moscow, sending troops to assist Russia’s war on Ukraine and drawing attention to the military experience his forces are gaining in modern combat theaters.

Kim has increasingly severed links with South Korea, abandoning the notion of peaceful reunification. Last year, North Korea destroyed parts of its own infrastructure once used to connect the peninsula’s north and south, underscoring the deepening rift.

Washington and Seoul allege that Moscow is helping Pyongyang evade United Nations sanctions and supplying it with military hardware. A joint report by 11 countries, including the US and Japan, cited “advanced electronic warfare systems including jamming equipment using Russian cargo aircraft.”

Shoigu’s visit marks his second North Korea trip in less than three months following his March visit during which he briefed Kim on US-brokered negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

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