Kim, Putin ink strategic partnership treaty

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Wednesday a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, including a mutual defense clause, as they met in Pyongyang, South Korea's public broadcaster KBS reported. The signing ceremony was held following a summit, in which Kim and Putin voiced continuing their military collaboration in Russia's war against Ukraine, according to the report. In a joint press statement following their summit, Kim said the two countries declared that they are upgrading their bilateral relations to an alliance, according to KBS. Kim also said he is deeply content that the two great nations came to adopt a treaty befitting their relations in the new era just nine months after discussing such an agreement during his visit to Russia. In his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, Putin said the accord would replace the "fundamental documents signed between the two countries in 1961, 2000 and 2001." The revealed that the treaty includes a clause under which their countries will support each other in the event one of them comes under attack. According to Russia's TASS and Interfax news agencies, Putin also explained that with what he termed the "drastic" deal with the North, Pyongyang-Moscow relations would reach a new level. Putin added that Russia would not rule out advancing military and technical cooperation with the North, saying the two countries will engage in military cooperation in accordance with the new treaty. He then stressed that the two countries will not tolerate threats from other countries and will face what they called politically driven sanctions. At the summit, Kim and Putin suggested continued military collaboration in Russia's war against Ukraine. "The government of the DPRK (North Korea) appreciates the role and mission the powerful Russian Federation serves in maintaining the world's strategic stability and balance and express our full support for the Russian government's special military operation in Ukraine to protect its sovereignt y, interests and the stability of its territory," Kim was quoted as saying at the summit. "We highly appreciate your consistent and unchanging support of the Russian policies, including in the Ukrainian direction, meaning our fight against the imperialist hegemonic policies of the US and its satellites against the Russian Federation," Putin said. Wednesday's summit comes nine months after Kim and Putin held a summit in Russia's Far East, which kick started the two sides' military collaboration amid Russia's war in Ukraine. South Korean Analysts said Moscow is providing technical assistance for North Korea's military satellite program while Pyongyang, in return, provides ammunition, rockets and other military supplies for Russian troops attacking Ukraine, the report added. Source: Kuwait News Agency