South Korean Foreign Ministry: Seoul Didn't Expect Russia, DPRK to Sign Defense Agreement

"We did not expect the agreement to be signed, but it happened," RIA Novosti quotes the South Korean minister as saying.

According to Cho Tae-yeol, this development came as a "big surprise" to Seoul.

He made the claim that by cooperating with Moscow, Pyongyang "will threaten not only South Korea and Japan, but also the United States and other countries."

Let us recall that the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Russia and the DPRK was concluded in June 2024, during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea.

Let us recall that the agreement includes 23 articles concerning the expansion of cooperation in trade, economics, investment, science and technology, including space research and peaceful nuclear energy.

On October 24 last year, the State Duma ratified it. And on December 4, after an exchange of documents between the deputy heads of the Foreign Ministries of the two states in Moscow, the treaty entered into force .

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and North Korea makes the countries allies.