Pyongyang, 27 December (H.S.): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dispatched New Year's greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, proclaiming their nations' partnership an unbreakable bond forged through sharing blood, life and death in the same trench during Russia's Ukraine offensive.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) disseminated Kim's message, which lauded 2025 as a really meaningful year that inscribed a great biography of the alliance via full mutual support and selfless encouragement, rendering DPRK-Russia ties a precious common asset for posterity.
Addressing Putin as Dear Comrade, Kim asserted that no one can break the relationship between the peoples of the two countries, who are firmly united with a strong will and power to defend the just orientation of the times and correct history, vowing Pyongyang's eternal solidarity.
Battlefield Sacrifices and Missile Escalation Cement Ties
This epistle arrived a day after Kim, on Friday, December 26, inspected munitions factories and mandated their expansion plus new plants to amplify missile and artillery output for 2026, targeting prospective requirements in precision strikes against U.S. and South Korean assets while exporting to Russia.
It reciprocates Putin's December 18 dispatch praising North Korean troops' Kursk demining from August to December—where an engineering regiment of about 1,000 suffered nine fatalities over 120 days, honored by Kim on December 13 with the Order of Freedom and Independence plus Hero of the DPRK titles posthumously.
Since April's confirmation of combat deployments—totaling 10,000-15,000 troops with over 6,000 casualties per intelligence—Pyongyang has supplied shells, missiles, and rockets, receiving Russian aid in funds, technology, food, and energy.
Strategic Axis Defies Sanctions and Isolation
Under the June 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, this deepening military symbiosis bolsters Pyongyang's nuclear-missile ambitions amid intensified testing, as Russia—whose weapon production surged 22-fold—gains invaluable manpower for its nearly four-year war.
Analysts interpret Kim's rhetoric as both domestic morale-boosting and a demand for Moscow's quid pro quo, solidifying an invincible friendship despite global condemnation.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
