Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un have recently signed a comprehensive strategic partnership pact that includes mutual military assistance, a move that could have significant implications for the Ukraine war and the broader geopolitical landscape. The agreement was reached after extensive discussions and has been described as a "defining moment" in bilateral relations.
The pact promises immediate military support if either country comes under attack. This development has raised alarms in the West, with the United States and its Asian allies expressing serious concerns. Japan and South Korea have already taken steps to address the potential threats posed by this new alliance.
North Korean military official Pak Jong-chon has issued a stern warning to the West, suggesting that continued support for Ukraine could lead to a "new world war." This rhetoric comes in response to the U.S. allowing Ukrainian forces to use longer-range missiles against Russia, a move seen as escalating the conflict.
Reports indicate that Russia has received significant military supplies from North Korea, including around 1.6 million artillery shells between August and January. However, both Russia and North Korea deny these allegations, citing potential violations of UN resolutions.
China, a key ally to both Russia and North Korea, has remained notably silent on the new treaty. Analysts suggest that Beijing is cautiously monitoring the situation, concerned about the potential for increased instability in Northeast Asia. China aims to maintain control over the situation without allowing North Korea to collapse, which could extend U.S. influence in the region.
The new defense pact between Russia and North Korea harks back to a 1961 treaty with the Soviet Union but offers much stronger security guarantees. Despite the deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, China remains an indispensable partner for both nations, providing crucial economic and political support.
- The historic new defense pact agreed to by the two nuclear-armed regimes has shaken the United States and its Asian allies. Japan expressed "serious concerns" about Putin's promise not to rule out cooperation with Pyongyang on military technology. South Korea responded by calling an emergency meeting on national security and said it would now consider sending weapons to Ukraine.
- Russia had previously been largely aligned with China on the issue, but its desperate need for North Korea to support its devastating war in Ukraine risks undermining the delicate balance. While the United States accused China of providing Russia with dual-use goods that bolster the embattled nation's military-industrial complex, Beijing refrained from offering direct military assistance to Putin and steered clear of supporting Kim's nuclear and missile programs.
- The mutual defense pact signed by Kim and Putin dates back to a 1961 treaty between North Korea and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. That agreement had been replaced by one that offered much weaker security guarantees after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But North Korea's mutual defense treaty with China, also signed in 1961, remains in effect after multiple renewals.
- The new treaty comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, where Kim has stepped up his fiery rhetoric and abandoned a long-standing policy of seeking peaceful reunification with South Korea. After the end of the Korean War in 1953, a formal peace treaty was never signed between the two Koreas, leaving them technically in a state of war.
- Driven by a shared hostility toward the United States and its allies, the two autocratic nations seek to undermine and create an alternative to the Western-led global order, a goal shared by China. In a conversation after his meeting with Kim, Putin bristled at what he called “the imperialist policy of the United States and its allies.”
