Russia approves treaty with North Korea for military aid

2024-10-24 16:05:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia's Duma, the lower house of parliament, has approved a strategic partnership treaty with North Korea, which allows them to support each other with "military and other assistance."

The treaty approved on October 24 was agreed in June in Pyongyang by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. This treaty increases the degree of cooperation between these two countries.

It also contains a sentence which states that, if one side is attacked and finds itself in a state of war, then the other side must "immediately come to its aid militarily and in other ways with all available means".

It is not clear how this clause might be interpreted, but South Korea and the United States have recently said they have evidence North Korean troops are in Russia and appear to be conducting exercises.

The troop deployment raises the possibility that North Korean soldiers could join Russian troops in the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2022, when Moscow launched a full-scale occupation of the neighboring country.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that North Korea could face consequences for providing direct aid to Russia.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the White House believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok, Russia, in early October.

NATO spokesman Farah Dakhlallah said the allies were discussing the matter, adding that, if true, "it would mark a major escalation in North Korea's support for Russia in its illegal war, and it would be another sign of the great losses of Russia on the front line".

Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications on October 18 posted a video it said showed North Korean troops preparing at Russia's Sergievski training ground to move into Ukraine.

The Kremlin has rejected South Korean claims in the past that Pyongyang has supplied Moscow with artillery shells and short-range missiles.

But the Kremlin has not commented on the latest claims from Seoul and Zelensky, who said on October 14 that "now it's not just about the transfer of weapons. In fact, it's about the transfer of people from North Korea to the occupying military forces "./REL