Putin says Russia-N. Korea military cooperation is 'our business': reports

▲ Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the 2024 BRICS Summit at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Center in Russia on Oct. 24, 2024 in this photo released by TASS. (Yonhap)

Putin-NK troop deployment

Putin says Russia-N. Korea military cooperation is 'our business': reports

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday his country's military cooperation with North Korea is "our business," according to media reports, as he addressed a question about Pyongyang's troop dispatch to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Putin made the remarks during a press availability on the margins of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Reuters, Bloomberg and other outlets reported, after Washington and Seoul confirmed the North sent around 3,000 troops to eastern Russia by ship earlier this month.

He, in particular, mentioned Article 4 of a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty with North Korea that includes a mutual defense clause.

"There is article 4. We have never doubted in the least that the North Korean leadership takes our agreements seriously," he was quoted by Reuters as saying. "But what we do within the framework of this article is our business."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Putin signed the treaty during a summit in Pyongyang in June. The treaty calls for one party to provide military assistance to the other "without delay" in the event of an armed invasion -- a pledge that many said amounted to a revival of the two countries' Cold War-era military alliance.

On Wednesday, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby confirmed that Pyongyang moved at least 3,000 troops to Russia during a period from early- to mid-October, while raising a "highly concerning" probability that they could engage in combat to support Russia after finishing training.

The confirmation came after Seoul's top intelligence agency said that Pyongyang is expected to dispatch some 10,000 troops to Russia by December, including around 3,000 already sent to Russia this month.

On Monday, a North Korean representative at the U.N. dismissed the troop deployment reports as "groundless rumors."

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