Send a Message to President Putin on Russia's National Day, Kim Jong-un: Justice Will Prevail

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Wikimedia Commons/The Presidential Press and Information Office/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to "join hands" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and enhance strategic cooperation in the common goal of building a strong country, state media KCNA said on Monday.

Leader Kim made the pledge in a message to President Putin on Russia's June 12 National Day, defending his decision to invade Ukraine and showing "full support and solidarity."

"Justice will surely prevail and the Russian people will continue to add glory to the history of victory," Leader Kim said in a message published by KCNA, reported Reuters, June 12.

Pyongyang has been accused of providing weapons to Russia, in addition to continuing to develop its own arsenal of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, despite years of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member.

Meanwhile, Russia appears to have turned to North Korea and other "rogue" countries, in a desperate attempt to circumvent sanctions and export controls to procure the weapons it needs to continue its 16-month-old war against Ukraine.

North Korea has sparked international concern with its ostentatious attempts to draw closer to the Kremlin, blaming the US and its allies for the war in Ukraine.

Leader Kim, who met President Putin for the first time in 2019, called for "closer strategic cooperation" between Pyongyang and Moscow, adding that he would "stick closely" with the Russian leader in their common goal of building a "strong nation".

North Korea has sparked international concern with its ostentatious attempts to court the Kremlin, blaming the US and its allies for the war in Ukraine.

In March, the US said Moscow was sending a delegation to North Korea to offer food, amid reports of food shortages, in exchange for weapons, in violation of security council sanctions.

"As part of this proposed deal, Russia will receive more than two dozen types of weapons and ammunition from Pyongyang," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the time.

Last August, President Putin called for closer relations. In a letter exchange last August to mark liberation day – when Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945 – he said Russia and North Korea would "continue to expand comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations" to strengthen the security and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

In July 2022, North Korea recognized the two breakaway, Russia-backed "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine as independent states. Only North Korea and Syria have recognized the Russian annexation.