PYONYANG, June 19.- President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have escalated their ties to a new level, promising to help each other if either nation is attacked.
Putin said this is an innovative new partnership, which was announced during his visit to that Asian country. Thousands of North Koreans lined the streets of the capital waving flowers and holding Russian and North Korean flags while chanting Welcome Putin, CNN reports.
North Korean leader Kim Jong greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin during a grand welcome ceremony at a Pyongyang airport on June 19.
The president of Russia and the North Korean leader signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. The pact replaces the previous Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed in 1961, TASS reported, citing Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov.
The comprehensive partnership agreement includes the provision of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement. Putin added that the agreement covers the political, commercial, investment, cultural spheres, as well as the security sphere, and described the pact as an innovative document.
Vladimir Putin said that joint exercises involving the United States, South Korea and Japan were hostile actions toward North Korea, and characterized U.S. policy as confrontational. Kim called the new alliance a decisive moment in the development of bilateral relations.
Putin was greeted with great celebration at a welcome ceremony with his counterpart at Kim Il Sung Square in the heart of the North Korean capital, where soldiers on horseback, military personnel and children with balloons cheered against the backdrop of large portraits of each president.
Putin’s trip follows Kim’s historic visit to Russia last year, which was widely interpreted as opening this new chapter in their relations.
