North Korea has signed a treaty with Russia calling for a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” Pyongyang’s state-controlled KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
According to Ukrainian and other military sources, this comes as North Korean troops are fighting in Russia against Ukraine.
In a statement, KCNA said North Korea signed the treaty, which was signed in Pyongyang on June 19, on Monday. It will come into effect once both sides exchange their ratification documents, the agency said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the agreement on Saturday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing Russian news agency TASS.
Moscow’s House of Commons, or State Duma, approved the treaty on October 24. The agreement takes military cooperation between the two countries to a new level and stipulates that they will provide mutual assistance if either country is attacked.
It was signed in Pyongyang in June by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but then had to be approved by the State Duma and signed by the countries’ leaders.
