SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed Pyongyang&#39;s support for Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine, vowing to help Moscow achieve victory in its &quot;sacred&quot; war, state media reported on Monday. Pyongyang has sent missiles, munitions, and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, and analysts say Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food, and energy to the diplomatically isolated country in return. A string of high-level Russian officials have visited North Korea in recent days, with Defence Minister Andrey Belousov meeting Kim on Sunday, according to official statements. North Korea &quot;will as ever fully support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests&quot;, Kim told Belousov, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim expressed &quot;belief that the Russian army and people would surely win a victory in the just sacred war&quot;, KCNA reported. Both sides said their delegations had discussed deeper military ties, with Belousov saying Moscow was ready to sign a cooperation plan covering the period from 2027 to 2031. Kim, Belousov, and Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also attended the opening ceremony of a memorial complex honouring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine. The ceremony included a concert, a fireworks display, and an air force flyover, KCNA reported. The audience was moved by portrayals of &quot;life-and-death bloody battles&quot; and &quot;death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions the young soldiers chose without hesitation&quot;, it said. North Korea and Russia signed a military treaty in 2024, obligating both states to provide military assistance &quot;without delay&quot; in the event of an attack on the other. The opening of the memorial coincides with what Moscow describes as the first anniversary of its recovery of parts of Kursk, a region in Russia where Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive starting in mid-2024. North Korean soldiers were deployed in the area to help beat back the Ukrainian advance. In his meeting with Belousov, Kim hailed the &quot;brilliant war results in liberating Kursk&quot;, according to KCNA. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the &quot;extraordinary bravery and genuine devotion&quot; of North Korean troops in a letter to Kim, published by KCNA. Seoul estimates that about 2,000 North Koreans have been killed in the Ukraine war. North Korean soldiers are said to have been instructed to kill themselves rather than be captured in battle. Only two North Korean troops have been taken alive and are currently in the custody of Ukrainian authorities.

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Pyongyang has sent missiles, munitions and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, and analysts say Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food and energy to the diplomatically isolated country in return.

North Korea's Kim reaffirms support for Russia's 'sacred' Ukraine war

BEIJING: The foreign ministers of North Korea and China agreed to deepen bilateral ties and resist hegemonism, a likely reference to their pushbacks against the United States. Their meeting in Beijing on Sunday came about three weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first summit in more than six years and pledged mutual support and enhanced cooperation. Kim and Xi earlier attended a massive Beijing military parade marking the end of the World War II, with other world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The joint appearance of Kim, Xi and Putin, the first of its kind, displayed a potential three-way unity against the United States, though it&#39;s unclear how far China would go in such an anti-US partnership. In a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui cited Kim as saying that further bolstering ties with China is North Korea&rsquo;s unwavering position. Choe expressed an intent to deepen and develop friendly ties with China in line with the spirits of Kim-Xi summit, the North&rsquo;s Korean Central News Agency reported Monday. Wang said China maintains a firm position that it intends to solidify bilateral ties, saying it&rsquo;s necessary to boost strategic communications and exchanges, KCNA said. China&#39;s Xinhua News Agency cited Wang as saying China oppose &ldquo;all forms of hegemonism&rdquo; and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with North Korea in international and regional affairs. It quoted Choe as saying that North Korea &ldquo;is willing to closely cooperate with China in multilateral affairs, jointly resist unilateralism and power politics and promote a fairer and more just world order.&rdquo; The comments likely referred to their countries&#39; separate confrontations with the United States &mdash; China over strategic competitions with the US and North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. KCNA said Choe and Wang exchanged views on regional and international affairs reached a complete consensus on the issues, but didn&#39;t elaborate. Kim&#39;s attendance at the Beijing military parade was his first attendance at a major multilateral event during his 14-year rule. In recent years, North Korea has been focusing on expanding cooperation with Russia by supplying combat troops and ammunitions to support its war against Ukraine. But experts say Kim now feels the need to improve ties with China, North Korea&rsquo;s biggest trading partner and aid benefactor, as he has to brace for the war&rsquo;s end. They say China, for its part, would want to maintain influence over North Korea, as bilateral ties reportedly cooled in the past few years. Attention has turned to the makeup of the delegation China might send to North Korea when it commemorates the 80th founding anniversary of its ruling Workers&rsquo; Party next month. North Korea is expected to mark the anniversary with its own military parade to display new weapons targeting the US and its allies.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, shakes hands with visiting North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui prior to a meeting, in Beijing. (Xinhua via AP)

North Korea and China agreed to deepen bilateral ties and resist US hegemonism following a recent summit between their leaders. Both countries pledged closer cooperation on regional and international issues. 

Articles tagged with "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un"

North Korea's Kim reaffirms support for Russia's 'sacred' Ukraine war

North Korea and China agree to strengthen ties, counter the US