Seoul, Oct 12 (EFE).- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged congratulatory messages on the 75th anniversary of their countries establishing bilateral ties, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday.
The exchange comes after the two leaders held a summit in Russia last month in a boost to bilateral cooperation at a time when both Moscow and Pyongyang find themselves isolated internationally.
“I am very satisfied over the fact that I recently paid an official goodwill visit to Russia and had an exchange of candid and comprehensive opinions with Comrade Putin for multiform development of the DPRK-Russia friendly relations,” Kim said in his message, according to KCNA.
He expressed hope that bilateral ties would “steadily develop onto a new level in the future, too.”
Meanwhile Putin “expressed satisfaction over the fact that the Russia-DPRK relations continue to positively develop in all aspects on the basis of the glorious traditions of the past.”
The two leaders had met in September in Vostochny, situated in Russia’s Amur region, with military and space cooperation being part of the agenda according to Moscow.
Although the details of the bilateral accords reached during the summit have not been revealed, United States’ media outlets have reported that Kim had agreed to help the Russian war effort in Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and artillery munitions, in exchange for food aid, satellite technology and nuclear-powered submarines.
The US and South Korea have strongly objected to the supposed deal, and stressed that it could result in international sanctions.
Indirectly referring to the Ukraine war, Kim said he hoped that the Russian people would “emerge victorious and glorious in the struggle for frustrating the imperialists’ persistent hegemonic policy and moves to isolate and stifle Russia.”
The mutual greetings come days after satellite images showed a substantial increase in the volume of goods being transported across the only border crossing between the two countries.
On Oct. 12, 1948, the Soviet Union had become the first nation to recognize the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – the official name of North Korea – which had proclaimed its independence just a month earlier.
Since then, Pyongyang and Moscow – which had assumed the responsibility of administration in the northern half of the Korean peninsula after Japan’s defeat in World War-2 in 1945 – have marked the date as the beginning of diplomatic ties. EFE
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