Russia has entered into a defensive pact with North Korea that obligates both nations to defend each other from military adversaries "without delay."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un signed the landmark agreement on Wednesday in a move that has alarmed Western powers.
"If one of the two sides is placed under war situations due to an armed invasion from an individual country or several nations, the other side provides military and other assistance without delay by mobilizing all means in its possession," the agreement states.
The agreement further cements the growing anti-West power bloc revolving around Russia as regional powers with friendships dating back to the Soviet era — such as Vietnam and China — reaffirm old bonds.
South Korean officials have been outspokenly critical of the pact, characterizing it as a direct threat to their national security.
An individual in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's office, speaking on background, reportedly told the press that South Korea will consider providing arms to Ukraine following the pact as a political retaliation.
The trip has been a major success for Kim Jong Un, who has welcomed closer ties with Russia and China in order to bolster international legitimacy despite his nation's dismal human rights record.
The dictator gifted Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs on Thursday — a breed native to North Korea. The two were photographed playing with the animals by state media outlets.
The two world leaders also bonded over automobiles, taking turns in the driver seat of an Aurus limousine manufactured in Russia.
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North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, was founded in 1948 with direct influence from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The Kim family — sometimes referred to as the Mount Paektu bloodline — is the hereditary dictatorship of the country founded by communist revolutionary Kim Il Sung.
North Korea operates under the state ideology of Juche, a quasi-communist worldview founded on a cult of personality and enthusiastic nationalism.
