North Korea’s Kim says Russia has right to self-defence against Ukraine 

North Korea’s leader has assured steadfast support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and agreed to boost military ties with Moscow, during a meeting with the Russian defence minister, state media reported.

Kim Jong Un said Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons is the result of direct military intervention by the United States, and Russia is entitled to fight in self-defence, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden this month allowed Ukraine to use US-provided, long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) inside Russian territory.

Kim pledged that his country “will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against imperialist moves for hegemony” while hosting Russian Minister of Defence Andrei Belousov in Pyongyang on Friday, KCNA reported.

Russia and North Korea have deepened their military links, with Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to participate in Moscow’s war effort.

Kim and Belousov agreed on further strengthening the strategic partnership between their countries.

North Korea has wholly backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to NATO’s “reckless” eastward advance and US-led moves to stamp out Russia’s position as a powerful state.

Kim slammed the US decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia as a direct intervention in the conflict, calling it Washington’s “anti-Russia measures” that are “irresponsible acts of fomenting prolonged conflict and threatening all mankind”.

Recent Russian strikes on Ukraine, Kim added, are “a timely and effective measure” to demonstrate Russia’s resolve.

According to NATO, US, Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and some of them have already begun engaging in combat on the front lines. They also say North Korea has also shipped artillery systems, missiles and other conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s exhausted weapons inventory.

Neither North Korea nor Russia have formally confirmed the North Korean troops’ movements, and have steadfastly denied reports of weapons shipments.

South Korea, the US and their partners are concerned that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles.

Last week, South Korean national security adviser Shin Won-sik told local SBS TV that Russia has provided air defence missile systems to North Korea. He said Moscow also appeared to have given economic assistance to Pyongyang and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system.

In June, Kim and Putin signed a treaty requiring both countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. It is considered the two countries’ biggest defence deal since the end of the Cold War.