Putin pens op-ed thanking Pyongyang for support in war against Ukraine ahead of first North Korea visit in 24 years
The Kremlin reported on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin is headed to North Korea for a two-day visit — his first in 24 years. Hours before his arrival, the Russian president published an op-ed in the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party. In it, he emphasized the two nations’ long history of friendly relations and portrayed the countries as two persecuted but resilient victims of an aggressive United States. Meduza sums up Putin’s claims in English.
Ahead of his two-day visit to North Korea beginning Tuesday, Vladimir Putin penned an op-ed for Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the country’s ruling Workers' Party, under the title “Russia and the DPRK: Traditions of Friendship and Cooperation Through the Years.”
In the article, which was also published on the Kremlin’s official website, Putin writes that the “friendly and neighborly relationship between Russia and the DPRK, which is based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and trust, goes back more than seven decades and is rich in glorious historical traditions.”
The Russian president notes that the Soviet Union was the first country in the world to recognize North Korea as a state and establish diplomatic relations with it, writing that the USSR “helped its Korean friends build a national economy, establish a health care system, develop its science and education, and train administrative and technical personnel.”
He goes on to say that modern Russia has continued this trend, developing a “multifaceted partnership” with North Korea, including when it comes to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine:
We highly value North Korea’s unwavering support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, its solidarity with us on key international issues, and its willingness to uphold our shared priorities and views at the United Nations.
Putin also uses the article to repeat narratives about how Washington is trying to “impose a global neocolonial dictatorship based on double standards” and that it was the U.S. “and its satellites” who provoked the war in Ukraine. He writes:
Our adversaries continue to supply the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime with money, weapons, and intelligence, allowing and effectively encouraging the use of modern Western weapons and equipment to strike Russian territory, and often striking clearly civilian targets. They’re threatening to send their own troops to Ukraine. At the same time, they’re trying to wear down our economy with ever-new sanctions and cause an increase in socio-political tensions within our country.
“All of their attempts to contain and isolate Russia have failed,” Putin asserts, noting that the country’s “Korean friends” have “defended their interests just as effectively” despite “years of economic pressure, provocations, blackmail, and military threats from the U.S.”
At the conclusion of the essay, Putin says he hopes that Russia and North Korea will be able to “elevate [their] bilateral cooperation to an even higher level.” He ends by wishing “good health to Comrade Kim Jong Un” and “peace and large-scale success in development to the friendly people of North Korea.”
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, drastically reducing the list of countries he can visit without fearing arrest.
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