SEOUL SOUTH KOREA — North Korea said Sunday it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia to establish a new multi-pola
KOREA — North Korea said Sunday it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia to establish a ‘new multi-polarized international order,’ as the two countries work to build a united front in the face of their separate, intensifying tensions with the United States.
In describing North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last week, the North’s Foreign Ministry said Putin also reaffirmed his willingness to visit Pyongyang and said that could come at an ‘early date.’
North Korea has been actively strengthening its ties with Russia, highlighted by leader Kim Jong Un’s September visit to Russia for a summit with Putin. Kim is trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his footing as he navigates a deepening nuclear standoff with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
In a separate statement on Sunday, the North’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.N. Security Council for calling an emergency meeting over the country’s latest ballistic test, which state media described as a new intermediate-range solid-fuel missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead. The ministry said the test-firing on January 14 was among the country’s regular activities to improve its defense capabilities and that it didn’t pose a threat to its neighbors.
