Daily Times

North Korea has ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, state media reported Tuesday, sealing a deepening security cooperation between the two nations amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The deal “was ratified as a decree” of Kim Jong Un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to the leader by his title of “President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

The notice comes after Russian lawmakers voted unanimously last week to ratify the deal, which President Vladimir Putin later signed. “The treaty will take effect from the day when both sides exchanged the ratification instruments,” KCNA said. North Korea has become one of the most vocal and important backers of Russia’s full-scale offensive on Ukraine. Pyongyang has long been accused by Western nations of supplying Moscow with artillery shells and missiles for use in Ukraine, but that support has escalated in recent weeks with the reported arrival of thousands of North Korean troops prepared to engage in combat.

Putin and Kim signed the strategic partnership treaty in June, during the Kremlin chief’s visit to Pyongyang. It obligates both states to provide military assistance “without delay” in the case of an attack on the other and to cooperate internationally to oppose Western sanctions.