North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday, adding that the leader was his “closest comrade”. Kim also stated that ties between Russia and North Korea would be raised to a new level.
Relations between Pyongyang and Moscow have become stronger since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, a development which has become a big cause of concern for the West. The North Korean leader also said, on a separate occasion, that Pyongyang would expedite steps to make his country a military super power with nuclear weapons.
According to Yonhap News which cited North Korean state media KCNA, Kim praised relations between both countries, saying they had become “invincible and eternal”, since Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in June.
Earlier this year, Putin and Kim signed an agreement pledging that they would come to each other’s aide in the event of “aggression” against either country. Neither elaborated on what would constitute such an “aggression”.
Kim has been accused of helping Russia in the war against Ukraine by supplying it with weapons in exchange for economic and technological aid.
