Pyongyang and Moscow Honey Moon

Honeymoon of Pyongyang and Moscow

PutinKim

Putin’s honeymoon trip to Pyongyang and Moscow confirms the excellent status of North Korea-Russia relations, not only jeopardizing the conflict in Ukraine but also unresolved regional issues with Beijing.

New Global Strategic Participation Agreement

The main outcome of Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to North Korea, warmly welcomed by leader Kim Jong-un with all honors, flags, flowers, and top officials of both countries.

An important point of this agreement, emphasized by Putin at the end of his two-hour face-to-face meeting with Kim, is that Moscow and Pyongyang commit to assisting each other in case of foreign invasion.

Prior to this meeting, Putin and Kim held extensive closed-door negotiations, lasting over an hour and a half, with the presence of delegations from both countries, exceeding the initial agenda.

North Korea’s official news agency KCNA emphasizes that this meeting, held 270 days after Kim’s last visit to Russia, comes at a time when Moscow-Pyongyang relations serve as an engine for accelerating the construction of a new multipolar world.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has undoubtedly added unprecedented urgency to the relations between the two countries, especially in the issue of armaments, but Putin’s meeting also says something about the axis that ties them to the weight of the multipolar world, China’s Xi Jinping.

An alliance without limits.

Putin was warmly welcomed in the festive atmosphere and with a dance performance by the North Korean communist regime in Pyongyang. Two national flags were waving on the airport flags in Pyongyang, and the North Korean capital was adorned with images of these two leaders.

Kim shook hands with Putin, embraced him warmly, and thanked him for his presence. Despite the symbolism and pharaonic style, the meeting between the two leaders clearly indicates a step forward in bilateral relations.

It is a well-known fact, especially considering the cooling of relations between Moscow and Pyongyang after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, that the closeness between the two countries began in 2000 with Putin’s first visit to North Korea. At that time, Kim Jong Il, the current leader’s father, was still there. The war in Ukraine brought them even closer, especially in the military sphere. It is no coincidence that the Russian President saw a new commitment to mutual defense as relevant to the current situation. Putin subtly but not excessively hinted at the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, saying it is not just a statement but a reality.

Armed Relationship

Previously, in September 2022, seven months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States accused North Korea of selling missile technology to Russia for the first time. However, in August 2023, the White House announced that Putin and Kim were in arms control talks, which were finalized in September with a visit by the North Korean leader to eastern Russia. Weeks later, US officials reported that North Korea had sent over 1000 containers of weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. According to New York Times sources, in March 2024, North Korea had sent nearly 7000 containers of weapons to Russia and replenished a depleted armory due to ongoing military efforts that started two years ago. Both Moscow and Pyongyang officially deny these transactions, which are prohibited due to the UN sanctions against North Korea, and such military exchanges and cooperation, especially at a time when Western support for Kiev seems increasingly weak, are very significant.

Does Beijing confirm this?

However, Ukraine is not the only point on Kim and Putin’s joint agenda; their countries are actually asserting themselves in the Asian space and, most importantly, have troublesome neighbors like China.

At this stage, three key countries have formed an axis that, while expressing disdain for the Euro-Atlantic system, have allied but have disagreements on regional issues. According to some international observers, the Chinese have many doubts about the intensification of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

Beijing’s fear is that Pyongyang could obtain weapon technology from Moscow that would accelerate missile and nuclear development programs, threatening the already fragile stability of the region.

According to media reports, China’s fear can be significantly reduced with a major strategic move.

In fact, these three countries are ready to discuss the possibility of allowing Chinese ships to move on a river that marks the border between Russia and North Korea, connecting to the Sea of Japan and having significant security implications for Tokyo. The Tumen River flows along the China-North Korea border and ultimately towards Russia before entering the Sea of Japan. Chinese ships can currently freely navigate only in the section under Chinese jurisdiction on land, but the situation may change.

Certainly, the meeting between Putin and Kim should not evoke the same enthusiasm as the reception of the Russian President in Pyongyang by the Chinese leaders.

China has repeatedly shown its coldness towards the emergence of an overtly anti-Western agreement in East Asia, a possibility that strongly facilitates military integration among US allies in the region.

A logical response to the proximity of Russia and North Korea is actually institutionalizing strategic cooperation between the United States, Japan, and South Korea. This is a scenario that Beijing seeks to avoid. Beijing will hardly be able to convince Washington to overlook this important matter, as China’s game in East Asia is not limited to just a military level.