North Korea ratifies defense treaty with Russia

North Korea has ratified a historic defense agreement with Russia, cementing their rapprochement amid Moscow's war in Ukraine, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday.

The agreement “was ratified in the form of a decree” signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday, KCNA said. Russian President Vladimir Putin also signed this mutual defense treaty, the Kremlin announced this weekend.

Concluded during a rare visit by Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang in June, this treaty between these two countries, bêtes noires of the United States, provides in particular for “immediate military aid” reciprocally in the event of an attack against one of the two countries.

According to kyiv, some 11,000 North Korean soldiers are already deployed in Russia and have begun fighting against the Ukrainians in Russian territory, in the Kursk region, a small part of which has been occupied by Ukrainian forces on the offensive since August. The Kremlin has so far evaded questions about the North Korean reinforcements.

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The deal formalizes months of deepening security cooperation between the two countries, allies throughout the Cold War.

“Pyongyang and Moscow will claim legitimacy for the North Korean military deployment in Russia and that the action is justified by the treaty the two sides ratified,” predicts Hong Min of the Institute for National Unification in South Korea, “even though their treaty does not override U.N. resolutions prohibiting such cooperation.”

According to the expert, the treaty ratifications point to “additional and potentially larger deployments” of North Korean troops in Russia.

Moscow and Pyongyang have grown significantly closer since Russia began its attack on Ukraine in 2022.

The agreement also commits the two countries to international cooperation to oppose Western sanctions and coordinate their positions at the United Nations.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui recently visited Moscow, where she said her country would “stand firmly with Russian comrades until the day of victory.” She called the offensive against Ukraine a “sacred struggle.”

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