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On November 9, 2024 the President of Russia approved the law on ratification of the treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and North Korea
The leaders of the DPRK and Russia signed the document on June 19 during Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang. It was then approved by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and went through a similar process in the DPRK. Now the document has entered into force.
The treaty is unprecedented for both modern Russia and the DPRK because it provides for deep and comprehensive interaction and mutual assistance, including military assistance. Article 4 states: «In the event that one of the Parties is subjected to an armed attack by one or more States and thus finds itself in a state of war, the other Party shall immediately render military and other assistance by all means at its disposal in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea».
The document was not born spontaneously, but is historically predetermined and naturally responds to the existing realities. The DPRK, along with Belarus, is a unique and unconditional ally of Russia in the international arena in conducting the special military operation (SMO) and confronting the collective West. Moreover, Russia apparently did not ask the DPRK to do so; this is Pyongyang’s principled position resulting from the situation into which the United States and its allies have driven the North Koreans. North Korea has been under the heaviest sanctions and military-political pressure for 50 years. It is perhaps the only country in the world that has managed to survive under such conditions and not only maintain its sovereignty but also develop.
For many years Russia looked at the DPRK with suspicion and did not pay due attention to the development of relations. In Russia, its closest neighbor was demonized and portrayed as a backward, almost medieval state. Besides, Russia joined the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council against the DPRK. The main «guilt» of the DPRK is considered to be the development of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, i.e. measures to ensure the sovereignty and security of the country in the face of an obvious threat of destruction from the United States.
Now Russia has found the political will to overcome fears and prejudices and meet its natural ally halfway. It must be assumed that Russia is aware of the consequences, since the obligation of mutual military assistance in the event of an attack brings the situation closer to a confrontation with the United States in the region, which has often been on the verge of starting a war with the DPRK. Moreover, the military doctrine of the DPRK envisages the use of nuclear weapons.
Already on the night of November 10, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Syrsky informed the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, about the preparations of North Korean military personnel for participation in combat operations on the side of Russia. According to him, there are numerous reports about the training of North Korean servicemen.
Earlier, the head of the press service of the U.S. State Department, Matthew Miller, said that 10,000 military personnel from the DPRK are stationed in Russia. He suggested that these fighters are located in the Kursk region and may soon take part in combat operations. Two weeks ago, when asked about the presence of the DPRK military in the SMO zone, Vladimir Putin said, «Satellite images are a serious thing», thereby not denying that its ally is preparing to implement Article 4 of the treaty in practice.
On November 11, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Washington, together with its allies, would respond to Moscow with coordinated political and diplomatic decisions regarding the participation of the DPRK military in combat operations in the SMO zone. This includes additional assistance to Ukraine. On November 12, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel reported that the DPRK military had begun participating in combat operations in the conflict zone in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
The rhetoric of the Americans is a vivid example of hypocrisy and double standards. That is, they can kill Russians by supplying weapons to Ukraine and providing satellite navigation and reconnaissance systems, as well as involving their allies, but the «emperor» denies this to Russia and the DPRK. Washington spends tens and hundreds of billions of dollars to help Ukraine and tries to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, but at the same time it refuses to guarantee the security of the DPRK, to conclude a peace treaty with it and to grant a few billion dollars for the construction of nuclear power plants in the DPRK in exchange for not developing nuclear weapons.
This once again confirms the correctness of the actions of the Russian and Korean leaders. As they say, we have nothing to lose. Vladimir Putin said earlier that Russia has not asked the DPRK for military assistance; there is no need for it. From a legal point of view, Russia is not in a state of war, and Article 4 of the treaty talks about war. But perhaps the request for participation or proposal came from Pyongyang itself, based on Article 3 of the treaty: «The Parties shall cooperate to ensure lasting regional and international peace and security». The 50 years of military confrontation with the ROK and the US have not resulted in large-scale hostilities, and the DPRK’s armed forces need combat experience under real military conditions.
This is another warning to the NATO countries: do not interfere or the entire armed forces of the DPRK, numbering about 1.5 million people, will take part in the hostilities in Ukraine.
For Russia, the participation of the DPRK may be important from the political point of view. The confrontation with NATO in the SMO zone takes on a different character. And the DPRK may have supporters. So the West has started to make a fuss. But its response under the present conditions is unlikely to go beyond what is already being done against Russia and the DPRK. The alliances, including military ones, that the United States is forming in the Pacific region are primarily directed against China and are unlikely to change in light of the Russia-DPRK treaty. But now the United States will face a coordinated military alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang. Given the new realities, the DPRK leadership will weigh the risks of its actions even more carefully.
It is to be hoped that cooperation in the military sphere will include economic and humanitarian aspects. Trade and economic cooperation with the DPRK, complicated by sanctions and attitudes within Russia, is in its infancy but has great prospects. Recently, Russia has begun to advocate the lifting of international sanctions against the DPRK, but this is unlikely to be achieved. We will have to overcome them somehow, as Russia itself is doing, bypassing Western restrictions. The agreement with the DPRK does not limit the development of cooperation in health care, medicine, science and many other areas. North Korean workers can successfully help alleviate the labor shortage, especially in the Far East.
If we recall history, the Russia-DPRK treaty continues a long tradition. It was the USSR that helped Korea liberate itself from Japanese occupation and then, in the 1950s, together with China, protected the DPRK from destruction in its confrontation with the United States and its allied troops under the auspices of the UN. At that time, the Soviet aces with the experience of the Great Patriotic War fought against the American air force that was burning down Korean villages. We were not at war with the United States. But Washington had already developed a plan for a disarming nuclear strike against the USSR.
Our journey through the democratic nooks and crannies of the past 30 years ended with the realization of the need to protect sovereignty by all means. And here the Russian vision coincided with that of North Korea.