Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual defense pact, committing to defend each other from military attacks “without delay.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un signed the agreement on Wednesday, a move that has raised concerns among Western powers.
“If one of the two sides is placed under war situations due to an armed invasion from an individual country or several nations, the other side provides military and other assistance without delay by mobilizing all means in its possession,” the agreement states.
The agreement strengthens the anti-West power bloc that has been forming around Russia, as countries like Vietnam and China reaffirm old ties with Russia.
South Korea has expressed strong criticism of the pact, viewing it as a direct threat to their national security.
An anonymous source in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office reportedly told the press that South Korea will consider providing arms to Ukraine as a political response to the pact.
The trip has been a success for Kim Jong Un, who has sought closer ties with Russia and China to bolster his international legitimacy despite North Korea’s poor human rights record.
Kim gifted Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs on Thursday, a breed native to North Korea. State media outlets showed the two leaders playing with the dogs.
The two leaders also bonded over automobiles, taking turns driving an Aurus limousine manufactured in Russia.
North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, was founded in 1948 with significant influence from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The Kim family, sometimes referred to as the Mount Paektu bloodline, holds the hereditary dictatorship of the country founded by communist revolutionary Kim Il Sung.
North Korea operates under the state ideology of Juche, a quasi-communist worldview based on a personality cult and fervent nationalism.