Russia is looking to further strengthen its relationship with North Korea after having effectively broken off all diplomatic ties with the West following the invasion of Ukraine. Moscow officials will visit Pyongyang this week, alongside a delegation from Beijing, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
Russia’s defence ministry has been open about its intention to use the trip for its benefit, hoping to increase its military ties with the East Asian nation. In a statement, it said:
This visit will help strengthen Russian-North Korean military ties and will be an important stage in the development of cooperation between the two countries.
The Moscow delegation will be led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to reports. North Korea has described the planned trip as a “celebratory visit.” This, alongside the group being sent from China, will make up the first group of visitors to North Korea since the start of the COVID pandemic.
Given that Joe Biden’s administration has already accused North Korea of providing Russia with military aid—a claim denied both by Pyongyang and Moscow—it is certain that the West will be keeping a steady watch on this week’s meeting. Western officials have so far been quiet regarding the visit, but are likely to comment on the signals that come out of the North Korean city over the following days.
North Korean state media earlier this year blamed the Ukraine war on NATO and described U.S. support for Kyiv as a “trail to self-destruction.” In a report released last year and quoted in Reuters, Artyom Lukin, a professor based in Vladivostok, commented that
Moscow’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine has ushered in a new geopolitical reality in which the Kremlin and (North Korea) may become increasingly close, perhaps even to the point of resurrecting the quasi-alliance relationship that had existed during the Cold War.
