Pyongyang, 20 June 2024 (Tass News)

The Korean Central News agency (KCNA) has released the text of the North Korean-Russian treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership that was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to that country.

The key Provisions of Open-ended Treaty:

• Immediate mutual assistance in case of aggression against any of the countries;
• In case of a threat of aggression, the countries agree on measures to coordinate their positions, cooperate to remove the;
• Moscow and Pyongyang commit themselves not to enter into any agreements with third countries that may threaten their sovereignty and security;
• Russia and North Korea will make efforts to boost bilateral trade and create favorable conditions for economic cooperation;
• Moscow and Pyongyang agree to develop cooperation in the area of space exploration, peaceful use of nuclear energy, AI, and IT;
• The countries will invigorate cooperation in the area of the mass media to counter disinformation and information provocations;
• Russia and North Korea will create a system of measures to strengthen defense potential to prevent war and ensure peace;.

Russia and North Korea signed a new treaty that provides mutual defense assistance, formalizing the two countries' heightened level of military and diplomatic cooperation.

President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after their summit in Pyongyang on Wednesday.

In a press conference following the meeting, Putin said the agreement "includes the provision of mutual assistance in case of an aggression against one of the signatories."

North Korea previously had an alliance treaty with the Soviet Union that stipulated automatic involvement in case of an attack on either of the countries. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it was succeeded in 2000 by a lower-level treaty with Russia.

Putin called the new treaty, which would replace the previous ones, "a truly groundbreaking document that reflects the desire of the two countries not to rest on their laurels, but to bring our relations to a new qualitative level." He added it "sets large-scale tasks and benchmarks for deepening Russian-Korean relations in the long term."

Both Kim and Putin stressed that the new pact is "defensive" in nature.

Putin's visit to North Korea — the first in 24 years — comes as the two countries have grown increasingly close in the past few years since Russia invaded Ukraine. North Korea is suspected to have provided Russia with millions of artillery shells and other weapons for use in Ukraine, in exchange for food, energy and military technologies.

The full scope of the treaty and other agreements signed on Wednesday are not publicized. And some North Korea watchers question the sustainability of the current bilateral ties.

But the United States and its allies have raised concerns that a growing military partnership would embolden the two ostracized countries and destabilize the region and beyond.

In Washington on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after his meeting with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Russia's war is "propped up" by countries like North Korea and China. "If they succeed in Ukraine, it will make us more vulnerable and the world more dangerous," he said.

In a show of strong friendship, Kim personally greeted Putin on a red-carpeted tarmac at the Pyongyang International Airport well past 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Putin was originally scheduled to arrive on Tuesday for a two-day visit.