FILE PHOTO – Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Acting Governor of Kirov Oblast Alexander Sokolov via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, August 9, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentiev/Kremlin via REUTERS
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SEOUL, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries would “expand comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with joint efforts”, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday.
In a letter to Kim on Korea’s Liberation Day, Putin said closer ties would be in the interest of both countries and help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported.
Kim also sent a letter to Putin saying Russian-North Korean friendship was forged in World War II with the victory over Japan, which had occupied the Korean peninsula.
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“Strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity” between the two countries have since reached a new level and are their joint efforts to thwart threats and provocations from hostile military forces, Kim said in the letter. KCNA does not identify the hostile powers, but generally uses the term to refer to the United States and its allies.
Kim predicted that cooperation between Russia and North Korea would grow based on an agreement signed in 2019 when he met Putin.
In July, North Korea recognized two Russian-backed breakaway “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, and officials raised the prospect of North Korean workers being sent to the areas to help with construction and other labor. Read more
Ukraine, which is resisting a Russian invasion described by Moscow as a “special military operation”, immediately cut ties with Pyongyang over the move.
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Reporting by Josh Smith; editing by Diane Craft and Lincoln Feast
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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