SEOUL Sept 15, 2026 — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to “expand and deepen” comprehensive cooperation with Russia and offered unwavering support for President Vladimir Putin, according to a message reported by state media KCNA on Tuesday.
The letter was Kim’s reply to Putin’s congratulations on North Korea’s 78th founding anniversary, marked on September 9. Kim said Pyongyang’s government had a “firm will” to broaden joint work with Russia “in a comprehensive way” based on friendship, mutual assistance, and what he described as the two countries’ alliance relations.
He also expressed conviction in Russia’s victory in the current “sacred war for defending the security interests of the country and international justice,” language widely understood as referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Kim promised his “invariable support” to Putin, whom he called a “dear friend,” and to the Russian people.
The remarks come more than two years after Moscow and Pyongyang signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty during Putin’s June 2024 visit to North Korea. That pact includes a mutual defense clause requiring military assistance if either side is attacked. North Korea has since provided troops and conventional weapons to support Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. South Korean assessments have previously put North Korean casualties in the thousands.
Kim sent a similar reply to Chinese President Xi Jinping days earlier, saying North Korea would work with Beijing to develop their traditional friendship. Both messages responded to congratulatory letters from Putin and Xi on the founding anniversary.
The latest exchange underscores how far the Pyongyang-Moscow relationship has tightened since 2022, with the two sides describing their partnership as an alliance and highlighting shared opposition to what they call a U.S.-led international order. Reports have also circulated of possible additional North Korean troop deployments, though those claims have not been independently confirmed by KCNA.
Kim did not detail what expanded “joint work” would include. Analysts typically interpret the phrase as covering military, economic, and technological cooperation that has already grown under the 2024 treaty.
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