Kim Jong-un reaffirms ‘unshakable’ alliance with Russia in message to Putin
Published: 12 Jun. 2025, 09:05
Updated: 12 Jun. 2025, 18:49
-
- YOON SO-YEON
- [email protected]
![Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside of Tsiolkovsky, in the far eastern Amur region, Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/12/ed6b9b74-b658-47ab-b598-89c6644e3d75.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside of Tsiolkovsky, in the far eastern Amur region, Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. [AP/YONHAP]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his "unshakable will" to continue the "indestructible, genuine relationship" with Russia in his congratulatory remark to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, June 12, the annual Russia Day.
Russia Day is a national holiday of the Russian Federation commemorating the end of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Russian Federation, which began on June 12, 1992.
"On the occasion of the National Day of the Russian Federation, I, on behalf of the government and people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and on my own, extend warm congratulations and comradely greetings to you and, through you, to the fraternal government and people of Russia," Kim said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the official name of North Korea.
Calling Putin a "wise and seasoned," Kim applauded the "successes achieved by the Russian Federation, our fraternal state."
"Today, the traditional DPRK-Russia friendship has been further cemented thanks to the militant comradeship the service personnel of the two countries have forged at the cost of their blood in the just sacred war to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia," Kim said.
![Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony of a new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/12/4bc50e92-2ad6-4846-878f-1425265b096e.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony of a new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]
North Korea sent more than 20,000 containers of weapons, including artillery shells, missiles and anti-tank rockets, since September 2023, and dispatched some 8,000 North Korean workers to Russia last year. In April, North Korea acknowledged that it had deployed troops to Kursk to fight Ukraine alongside Russia.
"It is an unshakable will of the government of the DPRK and of my own steadfastly to carry on the DPRK-Russia relations, which have been sealed and verified in the face of all sorts of trials and challenges of history, to a heyday of comprehensive prosperity," continued Kim.
"I and the DPRK will always stand with you and the Russian Federation."
The message comes only a week after Kim reportedly met with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and his delegation at the party’s headquarters in Pyongyang on June 4.
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a meeting with Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on June 4 [KCNA/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/12/e1f25266-7f2a-4910-ae60-4c2766378c8f.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a meeting with Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on June 4 [KCNA/YONHAP]
![Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on June 4 [KCNA/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/12/ffc3865d-65ce-4a11-9ac7-cf526f60ff97.jpg)
Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on June 4 [KCNA/YONHAP]
Shoigu, visiting North Korea on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly “courteously conveyed the friendly greetings” on behalf of Putin for the “matchless heroism and self-sacrificing spirit of the Korean people’s excellent sons who participated in the operations for liberating the Kursk area and defended the precious part of the Russian territory as their own motherland, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Russian soldiers in the same trench," according to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North Korean Workers’ Party.
In response, Kim pledged that North Korea would “unconditionally support” Russia’s stance and foreign policies on “crucial international political issues, including the Ukrainian issue,” and said North Korea would “responsibly observe the articles of the treaty between [North Korea] and Russia.”
The news also comes amid reports that Kim could be visiting Russia to celebrate the first anniversary of signing of the North's treaty with Russia on June 19. Putin had invited Kim to Moscow during his visit to North Korea in June last year.
BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)