Russian defense minister visits North Korea as ties expand
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has arrived in North Korea for talks with the country’s high-ranking officials as Moscow and Pyongyang expand their military ties.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that Belousov was in Pyongyang as part of an unannounced visit to meet and negotiate with North Korean “military and military-political officials.”
Photos released by the ministry showed Belousov walking alongside his North Korean counterpart No Kwang Chol on a red carpet at a Pyongyang airport, with North Korean military officials clapping under a banner that read, “Complete support and solidarity with the fighting Russian army and people.”
The defense minister was quoted by the Russian news agencies as hailing “expanding” ties with North Korea, saying, “Friendly ties between Russia and North Korea are actively expanding in all areas, including military cooperation.”
Belousov also praised a strategic partnership agreement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un following their June meeting in Pyongyang, which he said was aimed at reducing tensions by maintaining a “balance of power” in the region and lowering the risk of war, including with nuclear weapons.
Belousov said the June meeting demonstrated the “highest level of mutual trust” between the two leaders, and “also the mutual desire of our countries to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in a complex international environment.”
The North Korean defense minister, for his part, praised the expanding cooperation between the countries’ militaries and reiterated North Korea’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war, describing it as a “just struggle to protect the country’s sovereign rights and security interests.”
Russia and North Korea have strengthened their military ties since Moscow launched its full-scale "special military operation" on Ukraine in February 2022.
The United States has recently accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with Moscow strongly rejecting the reports.
Russia launched the operation partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion after warning that the US-led military alliance was following an “aggressive line” against Moscow.
NATO members of the US, the UK and Germany have since been flooding Ukraine with weapons and munitions despite repeated warnings by Russia against the flow of weaponry to Kiev as it prolongs the conflict.
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