Putin's Alliance With North Korea

Since Putin signed a bilateral summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un in June of 2024, Russia has strengthened ties with the small Cold War-era country the most in their history.

The summit in Pyongyang, signed by the two country leaders, proclaimed an emphasis on developing deeper ties between the two anti-American countries while also providing resources for each other.

But why is Russia developing its relationship with North Korea, but not stronger allies such as China and India? The answer lies in its war in the western front: Ukraine.

The Ruso-Ukraine War has put a heavy toll on both militaries, however more costly on the Russia side. While Ukraine received a substantial amount of military and economic aid from the West, allowing it to win the war of attrition with much less losses, Russia is struggling to keep its military afloat.

The war, touted by Putin to only last weeks, became heavily drawn out as Russia experienced heavy losses in soldiers and equipment, reducing their overall combat ability. Also, the west announced sanctions on countries who supported Russia in the war, leaving Russia's greatest allies China and India out of the table for assistance, as their economies were heavily tied to western markets.

This left North Korea as Russia's only remaining supplier of military equipment, mostly Soviet-era equipment but still useable by the modern Russian military if refurbished. In return, North Korea expected economic aid to the economically poor nation.

The Putin-Kim summit in June wished to solve both countries' current situations through this trade offer. Despite equipment shipments from North Korea, Russia's military remains heavily underequipped and backward in technology, using a combination of both Soviet and North Korean refurbished equipment, dragging the Ukraine War even more. Meanwhile, with nothing to lose, North Korea valued a strong relationship with Russia to avoid complete collapse internally.