N. Korea pledges deeper ties with Russia as security chief visits

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to deepen ties with Russia as he held talks with visiting security chief Sergei Shoigu, state media reported Saturday.

Western powers have accused cash-strapped North Korea of selling ammunition to Russia in defiance of sanctions over the more than 30-month war in Ukraine. North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Russia, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defence agreement with Kim.

Pictures in North Korean state media showed Kim and Shoigu hugging and smiling at the end of their visit, with the North Korean leader "wishing the respected President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin good health and success in his work." The pair were described as having had "constructive" talks in "a friendly and trustworthy, warm atmosphere."

The exact location of their meeting was not disclosed, but experts suspect it was the Kumsusan Guest Palace in Pyongyang, which has hosted both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"There was a wide exchange of views on the issues of steadily deepening the strategic dialogue between the two countries and strengthening cooperation to defend the mutual security interests and on the regional and international situation," North Korean state media said.

Kim "affirmed that the DPRK government would further expand cooperation and collaboration" with Russia based on the treaty they signed in June, it added, using the country's official name.

Russia's security council said on its website that Shoigu's meeting with Kim will "make an important contribution to the implementation" of the defence pact. Shoigu heads Russia's Security Council after stepping down as defence minister in May.

He last met with Kim in July 2023, during a celebration in Pyongyang for the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Korean War armistice.

Their latest meeting comes two days after North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the testing spree was possibly of weapons meant "for export to Russia."

On Friday, North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, and Kim stressed "the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence."

The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of supplying ammunition and missiles for Russia's war effort, a claim Pyongyang has called "absurd."

A Conflict Armament Research report this week used debris analysis to show "that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used in Ukraine."

Russia, a historical ally of North Korea, is one of a handful of nations with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations. Ties have warmed since the 2022 start of the Ukraine war ruptured Russia's relations with the West. (AFP)