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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Vladimir Putin of Russia walk side-by-side at a welcome ceremony for Putin and his delegation held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 18, 2024. (AFP/Yonhap)

The new comprehensive strategic partnership pact that North Korea and Russia signed on Wednesday is a throwback to the Cold War, effectively restoring a military alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korea, armed with nuclear weapons, is pushing for comprehensive cooperation with the military superpower of Russia. This is effectively the coup de grace for the international community’s approach to North Korea of utilizing UN Security Council sanctions as leverage to push for denuclearization. 

The Korean Peninsula has officially been thrust back into a global power struggle in the new Cold War structure, with Russia and North Korea on one side and South Korea, the US and Japan on the other. This is a painful strategic failure for South Korea, which managed to secure a diplomatic win in the early 1990s with Roh Tae-woo’s Nordpolitik. 

According to the full text of the agreement, published by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, the treaty obligates each party to “provide military and other assistance with all means in its possession without delay in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and the laws of the DPRK and the Russian Federation” in case either party is attacked. 

The new treaty also includes economic agreements (trade, mutual investments) designed to counter international sanctions. Following his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, “The Russian Federation does not rule out developing military and technical cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the document signed today.” This is essentially an acknowledgment that North Korea and Russia may engage in the exchange of sensitive military technology related to nuclear weapons, missiles and submarines. 

In a piece published in September of last year, American nuclear scientist Siegfried S. Hecker, who has observed North Korea for many years, said, “Kim’s move toward Russia is neither tactical nor desperate. Rather, it is the result of a fundamental shift in North Korean policy, finally abandoning a 30-year effort to normalize relations with the United States.” North Korea has made the strategic decision to seek development through Russia, not the US. Countries will now be forced to revise their policy approaches to North Korea, from South Korean conservatives (pressure campaigns) and progressives (conciliation and aid) to the US and Japan.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been ignoring North Korea’s and Russia’s warning signals for the past two years by fully devoting himself to bolstering the trilateral alliance between South Korea, the US and Japan. The result has been a breakdown of South Korea-Russia relations and inter-Korean relations, leading us to today’s dilemma. 

It’s time for Yoon to reflect on the effectiveness of his reckless “values diplomacy” campaign, and prepare for a long-term battle. He needs to find a way to coexist peacefully with North Korea and Russia.

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