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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands while holding copies of their newly signed pact establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership between their two nations following their summit in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (TASS/Yonhap)

The Russian government claimed that South Korea is not the target of the “comprehensive strategic partnership” that President Vladimir Putin established with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a recent treaty.

Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, who is currently in Tehran to attend a meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue member states’ top diplomats, addressed the treaty that Putin and Kim reached on June 19 in an interview with Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news agency.

“[This] treaty is a kind of warning for those countries that probably expected to or would plan to solve the problems of the peninsula and the region as a whole by military means,” Rudenko told Sputnik.

Rudenko remarked that the treaty “is not aimed at undermining the already difficult situation in the Northeast Asia region” while reiterating that it doesn’t target South Korea or any other third countries.

“We hope Seoul will accept the new agreement with an understanding, and a sound approach will prevail there, including in relations with Russia,” the deputy foreign minister added.

Shortly after Putin’s summit with Kim, South Korean national security adviser Chang Ho-jin announced that South Korea would consider the option of providing direct weapons aid to Ukraine. Putin responded during a press conference by saying that that would be a “very big mistake” and threatened to take corresponding measures, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.

As for the possibility of Kim visiting Russia, Rudenko noted that the necessary conditions for such a visit are in place, without specifying the exact timeframe of such a visit. The deputy foreign minister said he thinks Kim will visit as soon as the groundwork is laid for the documents that need to be signed at this stage.

Putin told Kim several times during their summit on June 19 that he looks forward to seeing Kim in Moscow, and a cable to Kim that was published on the Kremlin website on Monday described Kim as a beloved guest who would always be welcome in Russia.

If Kim pays a reciprocal visit to Moscow before long, that would be his second trip to Russia in less than a year, following his meeting with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East last September. 

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]