The North Korea-Russia relationship remains in a honeymoon phase, at least if the series of visits by Russian dignitaries to Pyongyang in late April is any guide.
The inauguration ceremony of the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations was held in Pyongyang on April 26, with Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin there to represent Moscow. This marked the completion of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s project to honor the North Korean soldiers who fought in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Flags of both countries were hoisted as Kim spoke.
Five days prior, Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev met with Minister of Social Security Pang Tu Sop. A meeting with the head of a security agency is notable. At the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly in March, Kim issued instructions for a reorganization of “Social Security Forces” into “police forces.”
Around the same time, a groundbreaking ceremony for the DPRK-Russia Friendship Hospital was held at the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone by the Sea of Japan, which was attended by Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov. North Korean Minister of Public Health Kim Tu-won said that once complete, the hospital “will offer vitality for beautiful living not only to local residents but also to visitors of our world-class tourist attractions.”
Connection work on the vehicular bridge linking North Korea and Russia was completed on April 21. As with the Friendship Hospital, this too fulfills an agreement between the two leaders. The two countries are currently linked only by a single railway bridge, making the rapid construction of a road crossing a concrete symbol of how quickly they are drawing together. The relationship is multifaceted.
North Korea’s closeness with Russia opens the door to both reducing its longstanding dependence on China and bolstering its deterrence against the United States. It is now seven years since the U.S.-North Korea Summit broke down in Hanoi, during which time North Korea has been busy upgrading its military capabilities and concluding a military alliance with Russia.
As long as North Korea can keep selling weapons to Russia in large volumes, it is in no hurry to see UN Security Council sanctions lifted. For Washington, this has raised the bar considerably for any resumption of talks.
That doesn’t mean that Kim has shut down any possibility of negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump. North Korean media have covered Israeli attacks on Lebanon extensively, while coverage of U.S. attacks on Iran has gone quiet since a Foreign Ministry spokesperson statement on March 1. More than two months have passed since a joint U.S.-Israel strike killed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Not only has this been kept from the North Korean public, but there has been no coverage of Iran at all. The silence speaks volumes: Pyongyang is watching Trump’s actions in the region very closely.
Kim’s visits to military facilities and weapons tests are also accelerating. Notably, the focus has shifted away from nuclear and missile development toward boosting conventional capabilities. New destroyers are under construction, performance tests of unmanned aerial vehicles are underway, and cluster munitions have been launch-tested. On May 11, Kim inspected an ammunition factory and ordered a production system for high-precision multipurpose ammunition by caliber, special ammunition, and training ammunition. This is an arms expansion with an eye to South Korea, the “principal enemy” and the “most hostile state.”
Meanwhile, ICBM launch tests, which make up the core deterrence against the United States, remain suspended since October 31, 2024. Since Trump took power for the second time, it has been clear that North Korea is taking care not to overly provoke Washington. For North Korea, Trump is both an opponent and a potential interlocutor, but also a highly unpredictable threat.
Japan urgently needs a summit with North Korea — the first in 22 years — not least to make progress on the abduction issue, long designated as a top priority. But achieving that requires the resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks. Lacking offensive capabilities of its own, Japan is not the main focus for Pyongyang, the United States is. And it is with that in mind that it is worth noting that what happens in North Korea is not unrelated to what is happening in Ukraine and Iran.
