North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss military issues and the regional security environment on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Kim Jong Un and Sergei Shoigu reached a consensus on unspecified "matters of mutual concern in the sphere of national defense and security and on the regional and international security environment," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un Meets Russian Defense Minister
KCNA reported that during the meeting, Shoigu delivered to Kim a "warm and positive letter" signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The report did not specify the specific military topics discussed.
North Korea invited delegations from Russia and China to the events commemorating the armistice of July 27, 1953, in a rare instance of diplomatic thaw since the outbreak of the pandemic.
While the armistice technically left the Korean Peninsula in a state of conflict, the North still considered it a victory in the "Great Patriotic War."
Kim reportedly took Shoigu to an arms exhibition showcasing North Korea's newest weaponry and instructed him on national plans to expand the country's military capabilities, according to KCNA. Photos from the exhibition depicted Kim and Shoigu walking alongside a line of large missiles installed on mobile launchers, AP News.
Some of the weapons depicted in the images appeared to be intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea has tested in flight over the past few years in its pursuit of an arsenal capable of posing a credible threat to the continental United States.
Kim and Shoigu also walked past what appeared to be unannounced new surveillance and attack drones from North Korea. During a briefing, Lee Sung Joon, a South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, stated that the South Korean military was analyzing the military assets depicted in North Korean photographs but would not provide specific assessments.
North Korea has sided with Russia in the Ukraine conflict, arguing that the "hegemonic policy" of the US-led West compelled Russia to take military action to defend its security interests.
The Biden administration has accused North Korea of providing Russia with armaments for use in Ukraine, but Pyongyang has denied the accusation.
Delegations from Russia and China, North Korea's principal allies in the Korean War, gathered in Pyongyang this week to celebrate North Korea's "Victory Day" in the war that ravaged the Korean Peninsula seven decades ago, even as they align over another very contemporary conflict - Russia's devastating invasion of Ukraine.
Also on Wednesday, at a reception for the Chinese delegation led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong, senior North Korean official Kim Song Nam thanked Chinese forces for their participation in the Korean War, stating that North Korea "would never forget the heroic deeds and merits of the valiant soldiers who wrote a glorious chapter in history."
North Korea, China, Russia Commemorate 'Victory'
The presence of the Chinese and Russian delegations at the armistice anniversary, according to Ankit Panda, senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "demonstrates the significance Pyongyang places on its relationships with both countries."
However, according to Blake Herzinger, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center in Australia, the Pyongyang gathering also reveals a vulnerability. Per CNN, Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, one of the earliest Cold War-era international conflicts.
During the Korean War, or what Beijing calls the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, more than 180,000 Chinese personnel perished. During the conflict, Russia's predecessor, the Soviet Union, provided combat support, such as Soviet aircraft engaging American fighters and heavy weaponry, such as tanks.
Despite Pyongyang's claims of victory, the 1950 war it initiated ended in a stalemate, with the current demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel roughly in the same location as before the conflict.
In the meantime, Moscow has been a steadfast ally of North Korea for decades, especially given their shared hostility toward the West. The same can be said about the Chinese Communist Party, particularly under current Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Moscow and Beijing, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have defended Pyongyang's interests before the international body as Western powers headed by the United States have attempted to impose additional sanctions on North Korea.
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