▲ This photo, provided by AFP on June 19, 2024, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and the North's leader Kim Jong-un walking on a red carpet at an official welcoming ceremony for Putin's state visit to North Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 19, 2024, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (R) greeting Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd from L) at the airport in Pyongyang as Putin made his first trip to North Korea in 24 years for talks with Kim. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 19, 2024, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd from R) as Putin began his state visit to North Korea for talks with Kim. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(News Focus) Putin-Kim-summit

(News Focus) Putin-Kim summit treaty feared to heighten security uncertainties on peninsula, beyond

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The surprisingly sweeping agreement that Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un struck at Wednesday's summit talks in Pyongyang is feared to add to security uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, experts said.

Putin and Kim signed a treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership calling for mutual assistance if either is under attack, as Putin made his first trip to Pyongyang in 24 years for the summit.

"The treaty on comprehensive partnership signed today provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty," Putin said after summit talks with Kim, according to Russia's TASS news agency.

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 and the North's push to increase the sophistication of its nuclear and missile programs.

Pyongyang is accused of having supplied Russia with ammunition for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine in exchange for aid and suspected technological assistance for its satellite development program.

The two nations have not revealed details of their new treaty, but what would draw attention will be whether a mutual defense clause, a key element for an alliance deal, is included in the treaty.

If the new treaty contains such a provision, it means Russia can militarily intervene in the event of emergency security situations that take place on the Korean Peninsula.

After the summit talks, the North's leader 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 relations as an alliance.

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 is under armed attack, the other provides military troops and other aid without hesitation.

But the deal was scrapped in 1996 after the Soviet Union established diplomatic ties with South Korea in 1990 and collapsed the following year.

In 2000, North Korea and Russia signed a new treaty of bilateral cooperation, but it did not contain such a provision, though it stated that both sides would "immediately make contacts" in case one of them faces a crisis of being invaded.

Experts said the 2024 treaty does not seem to be a mutual defense alliance agreement, but the Kim-Putin summit agreement still raises security uncertainties on the peninsula.

"Putin's remarks about mutual assistance appear to be different from the notion of automatic military intervention," said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"Russia and North Korea may be on the way to developing a semi-military alliance, but it is difficult to regard the new treaty as a military alliance," he added.

Putin and Kim, meanwhile, made it clear that the two nations will join hands to beat international sanctions, at a time when they are forming a united front against the United States.

North Korea has been under multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against its nuclear and missile programs, while Russia has been slapped with international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

After the summit talks, Putin said Moscow and Pyongyang will continue to "counteract the practice of sanctions familiar to the West," adding that the U.N. sanctions regime against North Korea should be revised.

In an article published Tuesday by the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, Putin vowed to build alternative systems for trade and settlements with North Korea that will not be controlled by the West. He also pledged to jointly resist "illegal and unilateral restrictions," apparently referring to international sanctions.

In March, the UNSC failed to extend the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea, as Russia, a permanent member of the council, vetoed the move. The operation of the panel expired in April.

In defiance of international condemnation, North Korea has been ramping up weapons tests in recent years, including launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles.

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