On Tuesday, North Korea’s state media KCNA said that the country has ratified a mutual defense treaty with Russia signed by both countries in June. The treaty calls for mutual aid in case of an armed attack on either country.
North Korea has been under international scrutiny over growing military cooperation with Russia. It has been reported that North Korea has sent a number of troops to support the Russian war in Ukraine.
The decree signed on Monday to ratify the pact would take effect when both countries signed and exchanged the ratification instrument.
On the Russian side, Vladimir Putin also signed the treaty into law, which guarantees immediate military assistance to each other country if either side is at war.
Kim refers to the pact signed with Putin at a summit in June as a step to elevate both countries’ relationship into a proper alliance.
Meanwhile, South Korea, the United States, and Ukraine have claimed that North Korea has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia, claiming that the North Korean troops have been fighting the war in Kursk near the Ukraine border.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine said last week that North Korea has already suffered some casualties from combat against Ukraine, and has remarked that the battle is a beginning chapter of the new global instability.
