Key facts
- Russia and North Korea celebrated 78 years of diplomatic relations.
- The Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was highlighted as the legal foundation for cooperation.
- North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu attended the event.
Russia has pledged to deepen ties with North Korea at a reception in Pyongyang marking 78 years of diplomatic relations, the North's state media reported Thursday. Russian Ambassador Andrey Podelyshev hosted the event on Wednesday at the Taedonggang Diplomatic Club. It was his first reception since taking up the post late last month. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu attended. Speakers expressed belief that the alliance "forged with blood would be immortal." Podelyshev called the relations "exemplary," developing on "the principles of full equality and mutual respect." He noted the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed in June 2024, has "brought cooperation between our countries to a qualitatively new level." Kim Jong-gyu responded by stating it is North Korea's "unwavering position" to "comprehensively expand and develop traditional relations of friendship and cooperation." A Russian delegation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs also attended.