Senior N. Korean diplomat reaffirms strengthening ties with Russia on anniv. of 2019 Kim-Putin summit

▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Vladivostok on April 25, 2019, in this file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-Russia ties

Senior N. Korean diplomat reaffirms strengthening ties with Russia on anniv. of 2019 Kim-Putin summit

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean diplomat on Saturday reaffirmed strengthening ties with Russia to mark the seventh anniversary of the first summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu hailed the 2019 summit in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East in a statement on his ministry's website, saying it served as a "new turning point" in the development of bilateral relations.

"Since the DPRK-Russia summit meeting in Vladivostok, the two peoples have developed the friendly and cooperative relations in a multifaceted way," he wrote.

DPRK stands for the North's official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

He cited the two leaders' signing of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in another summit in Pyongyang in June 2024, saying it elevated relations to a "high level of alliance."

The official also noted his country's deployment of troops in support of Russia's war against Ukraine as an example of the "enduring nature of the firm alliance and militant friendship" between the two countries.

"It is our invariable stand and will to elevate and develop the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries onto a new higher level."

Following the 2019 summit, Kim visited Russia again in 2023, where he held talks with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East before their 2024 summit in Pyongyang.

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