North Korea and Russia sign treaty
Moving toward Cold War Two
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation have signed the DPRK-Russia Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The comprehensive agreement is both a mutual defense pact as well as an agreement to intensify commercial relations and intercultural exchanges. It is an agreement of cooperative self-defense and common development, forged in response to Washington’s campaign of unconventional war and unilateral sanctions against targeted defiant nations, including Russia and the DPRK, carried out by the USA with the increasing support of Western nations. The Treaty was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and DPRK Chairman of State Affairs Kim Jong Un on June 19, 2024, in Pyongyang, during the Russian President’s June 18-19 visit to North Korea.
Good relations between Russia and the DPRK have been maintained for seven decades. As Putin pointed out during a reception hosted by Kim, an international treaty was signed on March 17, 1949, in Moscow by the founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Il Sung, the first international treaty signed by the DPRK after it gained independence.
Relations between Moscow and Pyongyang, especially with respect to defense, have deepened during the last two years, as is indicated by the visit of the Russian Minister of Defense to Pyongyang in 2023 and the visit of Kim to Russia in September 2023, widely interpreted as a new chapter in their relations. At the conclusion of his visit to Russia, Kim invited the Russian president to visit North Korea. In addition, meetings of a Russian-Korean intergovernmental commission on commercial, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation were held in Pyongyang in November 2023 and in Moscow in March 2024.
Because of the comprehensive nature of the June 19 Treaty, Putin described it as a new innovative partnership, heralding a new age in relations between the two nations, developed in response to the confrontational policy of the United States toward North Korea. Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov pointed out that the agreement reflects the profound evolution of the world geopolitical situation as well as the substantive changes in bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea in recent times. He further declared that the Treaty is in conformity with the fundamental principles of international law, and that its objective is to ensure greater stability in the region.
North Korean Chairman of State Affairs Kim Jong Un also characterized the agreement as a decisive moment in the development of bilateral relations between the two nations, bringing the relations to a more advanced stage. He described it as having a peaceful and defensive character, in that its purpose is to “protect and defend the basic interests of the peoples of both countries.” He noted that the partnership between the two nations “serves the cause of a construction of a multipolar world and responds to the change of status of Pyongyang and Moscow on the world stage.”
The agreement builds upon and brings up to date previous agreements that were signed between Moscow and Pyongyang, including the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance in 1961; the Treaty of Friendship, Good Will and Cooperation of 2000, and the Declarations of Moscow and Pyongyang of 2000 and 2001. Putin observed that these ties developed by previous generations provide a good foundation for developing the present bilateral relationship.
It was Putin’s first visit to the DPRK since 2000, when he met with Kim Jong Il, father of the present leader Kim Jong Un. Upon his arrival on June 18, the Russian president was welcomed by Kim Jong Un at the Pyongyang airport, where a great welcoming ceremony was held. Subsequently, thousands of North Koreans lined the streets of the capital waving flowers and Russian and North Korean flags, chanting “Welcome Putin.” Putin and Kim were then received with a great welcome ceremony of celebration in Kim Il Sung Square. Inaugurated in 1954, Kim Il Sung Square is in the heart of the North Korean capital and is the largest plaza of the city, named for the founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Putin and Kim were greeted upon their arrival by soldiers on horseback, military personnel, and cheering children with balloons against the backdrop of large portraits of the two leaders.
The text of the DPRK-Russia Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership expresses the desire to “build future oriented interstate relations of a new era,” based on historic traditions of Korean-Russian friendship. It envisions a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that contributes to peace and regional security and stability, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter. It reaffirms “the desire to protect international justice from hegemonic aspirations and attempts to impose a unipolar world order.” It seeks the establishment of “a multipolar international system based on good faith cooperation of states, mutual respect for interests, collective resolution of international problems, cultural and civilizational diversity.”
Article One of the Treaty reaffirms the principles that have guided for seven decades the efforts of the nations of the Third World to construct an alternative world order, when it asserts its support for “the principles of mutual respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, equality and other principles of international law relating to friendly relations and cooperation between states.”
Articles Three and Four formulate the terms of agreement of mutual defense. Article Three asserts that “in the event of an immediate threat of an act of armed aggression against one of the Parties, the Parties, at the request of one of the Parties, shall immediately use bilateral channels for consultations in order to coordinate their positions and agree on possible practical measures to assist each other to help eliminate the emerging threat.” Article Four declares, “if one of the Parties is subjected to an armed attack by any state or several states and thus finds itself in a state of war, the other Party will immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.” (Article 51 of the UN Charter affirms the inherent right of member states to individual or collective self-defense in the event of an armed attack).
The agreement declares that it seeks the prevention of war through the strengthening of defense capabilities. It aims for the protection of state sovereignty and the defense of the right of the two nations to development. In envisions joint action in response to “challenges and threats in areas of strategic importance, including food and energy security, information and communications technology (ICT) security, climate change, healthcare and supply chains.”
With an orientation to common economic development, the agreement commits to “the expansion and development of cooperation in trade, economic, investment, scientific and technical fields.” It notes that the two nations will make efforts to increase the volume of mutual trade and to cooperate with respect to monetary, financial, and investment challenges. The agreement envisions “joint research in the field of science and technology, including such areas as space, biology, peaceful nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, information technology and others.” It further maintains that the two nations “will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of agriculture, education, healthcare, sports, culture, tourism and other areas.” The Parties will cooperate in environmental protection and in prevention and relief from natural disasters.
In Article 16, the agreement makes clear its rejection of the unilateral coercive measures by the United States in international relations, and it affirms that the two nations will work together in support of multilateral initiatives to end such practices.
The Parties will oppose the use of unilateral coercive measures, including those of an extraterritorial nature, and consider their introduction illegal and contrary to the UN Charter and international law. The Parties will coordinate efforts and interact in order to support multilateral initiatives aimed at eliminating the practice of using such measures in international relations. The Parties will guarantee the non-application of unilateral coercive measures aimed directly or indirectly at one of the Parties. . ..
If unilateral coercive measures are introduced against one of the Parties by any third party, the Parties shall make practical efforts to reduce the risks [and to] eliminate or minimize the direct and indirect impact of such measures on mutual economic relations. . .. The Parties shall also take steps to limit the dissemination of information that could be used by such third parties to impose and escalate such measures.
In addition to the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the two nations also signed separate intergovernmental agreements of cooperation with respect to scientific research, healthcare, and medical education as well as the building of a trans-border road bridge.
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The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during these past decades has not been an active participant in the process of construction of an alternative world order by the Global South, even as it was constructing in parallel a dignified path to socialism. One wonders if the agreement with Russia is a coming out party for the DPRK.
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The justifiable and politically intelligent DPRK-Russia Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, made necessary by the territorial expansionism and military threats and aggressions of the West, is a further sign that the international scenario is moving toward what I have previously called Cold War Two. But with key differences from the first Cold War. In Cold War Two, the decadence of the West has become more advanced. And in Cold War Two, the East has become the East and the South, and its capacity for socialist construction has reached a more advanced stage, constituting humanity’s best hope for a future world of peace and prosperity.
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