Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un have signed a comprehensive agreement pact between Russia and North Korea, which Kim described as “peaceful and defensive” and which Putin said did not rule out “the provision of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement.”
Speaking after lengthy talks, Putin said the pair discussed world affairs and the global agenda a lot, and that Moscow and Pyongyang stood together against the politically motivated sanctions regimes of others.
Kim described Putin as “the dearest friend of the Korean people”, saying that “At this moment, when the whole world is paying close attention to Pyongyang, where the friendship mission from Russia has arrived, I stand with Russian comrades – our most honest friends and comrades.”
The Kremlin’s website indicated that the agreementalso included “cooperation in the field of healthcare, medical education and science”. Putin said that North Korea had a right to defend itself, and that “The Russian Federation does not rule out military-technical cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in accordance with the document signed today.”
Putin also laid a wreath at a monument to soldiers of the Sovier Union who lost their lives liberating the Korea peninsula from Japanese occupation. It is the Russian president’s first visit to North Korea for over two decades, and he will later head to Vietnam.
(Courtesy: thgurardian.com)