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North Korea
This Week in AsiaPolitics

North Korea, Russia boost anti-West ‘powerful bulwark’ as Ukraine war drags on

At a memorial for fallen North Korean soldiers who fought in Ukraine, Moscow offers to renew a military pact with Pyongyang

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a speech in Pyongyang on Sunday as Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov (left) and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin (second left) listen during a ceremony to launch a museum dedicated to North Korean soldiers who fought in the Ukraine war. Photo: KCNA/EPA
Park Chan-kyong
North Korea and Russia are moving to consolidate their military ties at a time of deepening global instability, with both sides using the Ukraine war as a symbol of their unwavering alliance.

Sunday’s unveiling of a memorial museum in Pyongyang for North Korean soldiers killed in the war was also aimed at showing the two countries were in lockstep over their anti-West stance, according to observers.

The partnership stemmed from their converging needs – Russia’s demand for manpower and materiel, and North Korea’s pursuit of military and technological advancement under the cover of wartime cooperation, they said.

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Towards this end, Moscow has offered to sign a new five-year bilateral military cooperation plan with Pyongyang.

At a ceremony marking the memorial’s opening on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to strengthen the partnership against what he described as fascism and hegemonic forces, according to state media.
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“No matter how the rules of war change and whenever and wherever a crisis occurs, we should be strengthened into a sincere, dedicated and powerful bulwark with unified power,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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