Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, sent a message of birthday greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He called him his “closest friend”. Kim, who congratulated Putin on his 72nd birth anniversary, added that the relationship between both countries will be taken to a higher level. The West is concerned that the relationship between Pyongyang, Russia and the Ukraine has deepened. Separately, Kim said Pyongyang will speed up its steps to make the country a nuclear-armed military superpower. According to Yonhap News, citing North Korean state-run media KCNA Kim praised the relations between both countries and said they had become “invincible” and “eternal” since Putin’s June visit to Pyongyang. “Meetings between us…will contribute positively to the further consolidation of the eternal foundation of DPRK-Russian friendship,” he said, referring to North Korea as its official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The relationship between North Korea, Russia and Kim Il-sung (the grandfather of the current Kim) dates back decades. Pyongyang never wanted to rely solely on China, which it doesn’t fully trust, as the Soviet Union provided weapons and technology in North Korea’s early days. Kim is accused of supplying Russia with weapons to fight Ukraine in exchange for technological and economic assistance. Putin’s relationship with North Korea is likely more tactical than strategically oriented. He needs support for the war in Ukraine, and North Korea is sure to be willing to sell whatever munitions are needed. Jeffery Lewis, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies said that both Kim and Putin “were trying to reduce the pain” of international sanctions, by creating a network of partners and friends outside the reach of US sanctions. North Korea can certainly benefit from access to Russian technology, which is far more advanced than the home-grown and reverse-engineered systems used by North Korea. North Korea’s primary goal is to perfect its missile and nuclear arsenal. In the last decade, it has made some very surprising advances in producing new missiles and miniaturising nuclear devices. After several failed launches from Pyongyang, Putin promised to help North Korea build its satellites during a visit Kim made to Russia in September of 2023. Separately, a South Korean lawmaker claimed on Tuesday that Seoul’s military detected signs that North Korea was building a possible nuclear submarine. Citing Korea’s Intelligence Agency, Rep Kang Dae Sik said that construction is still in its early phases and “further verification is needed to determine whether it is nuclear-powered”.
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