North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (C) arrives to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. Photo by VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV / EPA
May 31 (Asia Today) — North Korea and Russia are displaying a rapidly deepening strategic alignment as Pyongyang backs Moscow’s war in Ukraine and Russia pushes back against international pressure over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The moves came as South Korea, the United States and Japan emphasized trilateral security cooperation at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
North Korea’s state media said Sunday that Ri Chang-dae, director of the State Intelligence Service, attended an international security meeting in Russia on Thursday, marking his first publicly reported activity in the role.
Ri called for each country to strengthen its “self-defense capability” and expand “solidarity and cooperation” with related countries. He also criticized what North Korea describes as double standards in international politics.
“North Korea is stockpiling and continuously strengthening the most powerful force to defend its own security,” Ri said, adding that Pyongyang offers “full support and encouragement” to Russia’s military and people as they defend what he called their sovereign rights and security interests.
Ri also met with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, to discuss closer cooperation between the two countries’ security and intelligence agencies.
At the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korean officials also attended a plaque-unveiling ceremony Friday honoring Aleksandr Matsegora, Russia’s former ambassador to North Korea, who died last year. Jo Yong-won, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui attended the ceremony.
Choe said North Korea and Russia “share a common position on all strategic issues” and described that alignment as reaching the level of an alliance, according to Russia’s Tass news agency. Tass reported that Matsegora had served as Russia’s ambassador to North Korea for more than 10 years before his death in December 2025.
Choe’s remarks came after the 11th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ended May 22 without a consensus final document. The United Nations said the conference ended without consensus amid rising nuclear risks.
A North Korean economic delegation led by External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong-ho also left Pyongyang on Friday to attend an international agricultural exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 in Russia.
The visits suggest North Korea and Russia are expanding cooperation beyond military and security affairs into economic and other areas.
Kwak Gil-sup, a visiting research fellow at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies and a former North Korea analyst at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, said Kim Jong Un has made clear that Russia is now North Korea’s top diplomatic priority.
“After the treaty between the two countries, they are accelerating the construction of an all-around cooperation system,” Kwak said. “Unlike during the first Trump administration, diplomacy with the United States has now been pushed down the priority list in North Korea’s foreign policy.”
Kwak said Ri’s visit to Russia may also be aimed at managing North Korean workers and personnel sent to Russia, including efforts to prevent defections.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260531010009042