North Korea’s Kim, Russian minister agree to boost military ties

SEOUL: Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and agreed to boost military co operation between the two isolated nations, Pyongyang state media said Saturday. The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with experts saying Kim is eager to gain ad vanced technology, and bat tle experience for his troops, in return. Kim, who met Be lousov on Friday, blasted the recent decision by Western powers to permit Kyiv to strike inside Russia with their weapons, saying it con stituted a “direct military in tervention in the conflict”, according to KCNA. “It is an exercise of the right to self-defence for Rus sia to take resolute action to make the hostile forces pay the price,” Kim was quoted as saying. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed a strategic partner ship treaty in June that obli gates both states to provide military assistance “without delay” in the case of an at tack on the other and jointly oppose Western sanctions. KCNA said Saturday that Be lousov´s visit “would greatly contribute to bolstering up the defence capabilities of the two countries and... pro moting the friendly,

mutual cooperation and develop ment of the relations be tween the two armies.” Be lousov, in a statement, expressed gratitude for the two countries´ deeping bonds and praised North Korea´s “absolutely inde pendent foreign policy”. An alysts have suggested Py ongyang could be using Ukraine as a means of re aligning its foreign policy. By sending soldiers, North Korea is positioning itself within the Russian war economy as a supplier of weapons, military support and labour - potentially even bypassing traditional ally, neighbor and main trading partner China, they say. Rus sia also offers access to vast natural resources, such as oil and gas, they say. Be lousov is well-placed to help with such arrangements, Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for Na tional Unification, told AFP, calling the Russian “an eco nomic expert without a mili tary background”. As Rus sia´s defense chief, he specialises in “long-term strategies for securing weapons and military sup plies, evading sanctions, and overseeing post-war recon struction,” Hong said. Russia and North Korea have strengthened their mil itary ties since Moscow´s in vasion of Ukraine in February 2022.