 |
| ▲ This photo, published by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 4, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
NK leader-Putin
Putin sends congratulatory message ahead of N. Korea's founding anniversary: KCNA
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ahead of the North's founding anniversary next week, reaffirming his commitment to bilateral relations, the North's state media reported Friday.
Putin sent the message the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, one day after Kim and the Russian leader held a summit in Beijing on the sidelines of a Chinese military parade to discuss bilateral ties.
It marked the North's 77th anniversary of its national founding on Sept. 9, 1948, by the current leader's grandfather, Kim Il-sung.
Putin reminded Kim that Russia was the first country to officially recognize the newly established North Korea on Oct. 12, 1948, the KCNA said, noting that "since then, relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have honorably overcome the test of time.
Russia, or the Soviet Union at that time, was the first in the international community to recognize the North as a state, following Kim Il-sung's founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the Korean War left the Korean Peninsula divided into the socialist North and the democratic South.
Putin also hailed North Korean soldiers deployed to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine as "a clear symbol" of North Korea-Russia friendship and mutual defense.
"I am confident that we, through mutual efforts, will further solidify the comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries in the future," Putin said.
He also said that this approach fully aligns with the interest of the peoples of both countries, and will contribute to the security on the Korean Peninsula and across Northeast Asia.
On Wednesday, Kim and Putin held a summit in Beijing to discuss bilateral relations, during which Putin praised the North's deployment of troops in his country's war with Ukraine, while Kim said he considered it a "brotherly duty" to do whatever he could for Russia.
Earlier in the day, they, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, appeared shoulder to shoulder at center stage in China's military parade, in a major display of trilateral solidarity.
During the summit, Putin reportedly also invited Kim to visit Russia again.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
