Putin flies into North Korea with promise to back it against the US

SEOUL/MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea on Wednesday for his first visit in 24 years, vowing to deepen trade and security ties with the reclusive nuclear-armed state and to support it against the United States.

Russian state media said Putin’s plane touched down in Pyongyang around 2:45 a.m. after a stopover in Russia’s far east.

The U.S. and its Asian allies are trying to work out just how far Russia will go in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose country is the only one to have conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 21st century.

In a signal that Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, is reassessing its entire approach to North Korea, Putin praised Pyongyang ahead of his arrival for resisting what he said was U.S. economic pressure, blackmail and threats.

In an article published by North Korean state media, Putin praised “Comrade” Kim, and promised to “jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions”, to develop trade and strengthen security across Eurasia.

“Washington, refusing to implement previously reached agreements, continuously puts forward new, increasingly stringent and obviously unacceptable demands,” Putin said in the article, printed on the front page of North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party mouthpiece.

“Russia has always supported and will continue to support the DPRK and the heroic Korean people in their opposition to the insidious, dangerous and aggressive enemy.”

Putin issued a presidential order on the eve of the visit saying Moscow was looking to sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” with North Korea. His foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said it would include security issues.

Ushakov said the deal would not be directed against any other country, but would “outline prospects for further cooperation”.

Putin noted the Soviet Union was the first to recognise the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea founded by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, less than two years before the 1950 Korean War.

North Korean state media also published articles praising Russia and supporting its military operations in Ukraine, calling them a “sacred war of all Russian citizens”.

Putin’s state visit comes amid U.S. accusations that North Korea has supplied “dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia” for use in Ukraine. South Korea, a staunch U.S. ally, has raised similar concerns.

The White House said on Monday it was troubled by the deepening relationship between Russia and North Korea.