On Thursday, Russian lawmakers unanimously ratified a strategic partnership agreement with North Korea, which includes provisions for “mutual assistance” in the event either nation is attacked. This agreement, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Putin’s June visit to the isolated East Asian country, reflects deepening ties between the two nations. However, many aspects of the pact remain unclear, including whether North Korea would be protected by Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
A recent report by the Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous former Russian intelligence officer, suggests the agreement contains a “secret clause” allowing North Korea to send soldiers to Ukraine. The report surfaced amid claims by Western officials that around 3,000 North Korean troops have been sent for military training in Siberia. While the authenticity of this information has yet to be confirmed, the possibility raises concerns about the extent of North Korean involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, the treaty was approved by a vote of 397-0 and will now proceed to the Federation Council, the upper house, for final ratification. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin emphasized the importance of strengthening “comprehensive and allied relations” with North Korea, underlining the broader strategic significance of the agreement.
Moscow has remained silent on the reported presence of North Korean troops on Russian soil. In addition to potential troop deployments, Western governments believe that Pyongyang has already supplied Moscow with weapons for its military operations in Ukraine.
The Russia-North Korea alliance, rooted in their post-World War II relations, has grown even closer since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, signaling a shift in geopolitical dynamics and potential future military cooperation between the two nations.
