DPRK's leader Kim Jong-un (left) speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their talks in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25, 2019. (ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
SEOUL – Russian President Vladimir Putin told Democratic People’s Republic of Korea top leader Kim Jong-un the two countries will "expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts," Pyongyang's state media reported on Monday.
In a letter to Kim for Korea's liberation day, Putin said closer ties would be in both countries' interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the Northeastern Asian region, DPRK's KCNA news agency said.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un also sent a letter to Putin saying Russian-DPRK friendship had been forged in World War II with victory over Japan, which had occupied the Korean peninsula
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Kim also sent a letter to Putin saying Russian-DPRK friendship had been forged in World War II with victory over Japan, which had occupied the Korean peninsula.
The "strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity" between the two countries has since reached a new level is their common efforts to frustrate threats and provocations from hostile military forces, Kim said in the letter.
Kim predicted cooperation between Russia and the DPRK would grow based on an agreement signed in 2019 when he met with Putin.
In July, the DPRK recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine immediately severed relations with Pyongyang over the move.
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