▲ This photo, provided by AP on June 20, 2024, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attending a banquet the previous day after they held summit talks in Pyongyang. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) NK-Russia-summit

(LEAD) N. Korea, Russia agree to offer military assistance 'without delay' if either is attacked: KCNA

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout)

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and Russia have agreed to offer military assistance "without delay" if either is attacked under a new partnership treaty signed after this week's summit, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) disclosed the full text of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Wednesday after their talks in Pyongyang.

"If one of the two sides is placed under war situations due to an armed invasion from an individual country or several nations, the other side provides military and other assistance without delay by mobilizing all means in its possession in line with the Article 51 of the U.N. Charter and the laws of the DPRK and the Russian Federation," the treaty read.

The Article 51 of the U.N. Charter stipulates that all U.N. member countries have the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense right if an armed attack is staged against them.

After the summit talks, Kim declared the North's relations with Russia have been upgraded to "the level of alliance." But Putin stopped short of going as far as defining the relationship as an alliance.

The KCNA said the new treaty also requires both sides not to sign treaties with third countries that infringe on the other's core interests or participate in such acts.

Views are still divided as to whether the treaty can be seen as a mutual defense treaty.

The new partnership treaty will replace bilateral treaties that North Korea and Russia have so far clinched, including a treaty of bilateral ties in 2000 that centered on cooperation in non-military sectors.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance in 1961. The treaty included a provision for so-called automatic military intervention, under which if one side comes under an armed attack, the other provides military troops and other aid without hesitation.

The summit talks came amid concerns that Russia and North Korea, both under international sanctions, could intensify their military cooperation amid Moscow's war in Ukraine.

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