New Delhi:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached North Korea early this morning. Russia has said that the visit will boost defense ties between the two countries. Shortly before dawn, Russian TV showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcoming Putin at Pyongyang’s airport. The two leaders shook hands and then hugged. Putin was then escorted in a motorcade through streets decorated with Russian flags. This is Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years.
Recently, border skirmishes between North and South Korean troops have raised regional security concerns. Russia and North Korea have been allies since their founding after World War II, and the two countries have grown closer since the West isolated Putin internationally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US and its allies have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with vital weapons, including ballistic missiles, for use in Ukraine. North Korea has denied supplying military hardware to Russia, but ahead of his visit Putin thanked Kim’s government for helping the war effort.
North Korea and Russia face sanctions
“We greatly appreciate that the DPRK (North Korea) is strongly supporting Russia’s special military operations in Ukraine,” Putin said in an article published Tuesday by North Korean state media. Russia and North Korea are “now actively developing a multilateral partnership,” Putin wrote.
Both countries are under United Nations sanctions – North Korea has been under sanctions since 2006 due to its restricted nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while Russia has been banned due to its attacks on Ukraine.
America has expressed concern about Putin’s visit
The US has expressed concern over Putin’s visit to Ukraine’s security interests with South Korea. The two Koreas have technically been at war since the 1950-53 conflict, and the border dividing them is one of the most heavily fortified in the world.
“We know that North Korean ballistic missiles are being used to attack Ukrainian targets (and) there may be some reciprocity here,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Highlighting those security concerns, South Korea said its troops had fired warning shots at North Korean troops who briefly crossed the border on Tuesday and then retreated.
South Korea’s military said it believed North Korean troops accidentally crossed the border as they were reinforcing the border. It also said that some of them were injured after the landmine blast.
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