PYONYANG, June 19 – President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have escalated their relations to a new level, promising to help each other if either country is attacked.
Putin said that this is a new innovative partnership that was announced during his visit to that Asian country. Thousands of North Koreans lined the streets of the capital, waving flowers and carrying Russian and North Korean flags, chanting “Hello Putin,” CNN reported.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin during a grand reception at Pyongyang airport on June 19.
The Russian President and the North Korean leader signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. TASS reported, citing Russian Presidential Advisor Yuri Ushakov, that the agreement replaces the previous Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed in 1961.
The Comprehensive Partnership Agreement includes providing mutual assistance in the event of an attack on one of the parties to this agreement. Putin added that the agreement covers the political, commercial, investment and cultural fields as well as the security field, and described the agreement as an innovative document.
Vladimir Putin said that the joint exercises in which the United States, South Korea and Japan are participating are hostile actions towards North Korea, and described American policy as confrontational. Kim described the new alliance as a decisive moment in the development of bilateral relations.
Putin was received with great celebration at a reception with his counterpart in Kim Il Sung Square in the heart of the North Korean capital, where soldiers riding horses, soldiers and children carrying balloons chanted against the backdrop of large pictures of each president.
Putin’s trip follows Kim’s historic visit to Russia last year, which was widely interpreted as opening this new chapter in their relations.
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