North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his commitment to deepening cooperation with Russia in a message to President Vladimir Putin as Pyongyang celebrates the anniversary of its independence from Japanese colonial rule, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
KCNA said this was in response to Putin’s congratulatory message on the anniversary of Liberation Day on August 15, in which the Russian leader said the bond forged between Soviet soldiers in the fight against Japan remains the basis of their relations.
“The friendly feelings forged and deepened in the bloody struggle against the common enemy between the armies and peoples of the two countries have served as a strong driving force for transforming the relationship of friendship and cooperation into a comprehensive strategic partnership and invincible friendship,” Kim said.
Kim and Putin held a second summit in less than a year in Pyongyang in June, signing an agreement on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that includes a mutual defense pact.
The statement comes amid allegations by South Korea, Ukraine and the United States that Kim is helping Russia in its war against Ukraine by supplying rockets and missiles in exchange for economic and other military aid from Moscow.
According to KCNA, Kim visited the memorial to Korean revolutionary soldiers who fought in the resistance to Japan to end its colonial rule from 1910-1945. He also visited the Liberation Tower, where Soviet Red Army soldiers are commemorated.
North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, had the support of Joseph Stalin, the general secretary of the Soviet Union, who declared war on Japan at the end of World War II.
The Soviet Union supported Kim’s communist forces, who eventually established North Korea after Korea’s liberation in 1948.
North Korea’s state media made no mention of a unification framework announced on Thursday by South Korean President Yun Suk Yeol, in which he called for dialogue with Pyongyang and proposed an international conference on human rights in North Korea.
With relations between the two Koreas at an all-time low, Yun’s blueprint has been received with skepticism by some experts who doubt whether it is realistic to expect Pyongyang to view it as anything other than an existential threat to its regime.