Moscow forecast to formalize arms trading with Pyongyang based on new treaty: experts

Moscow is expected to formalize arms trading with Pyongyang based on their new treaty signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week, South Korean experts said Thursday. The treaty, signed between the two leaders in Pyongyang on Wednesday, pledges mutual aid if either country faces "aggression." This is considered the strongest agreement signed since the end of the Cold War. "Russia's intention behind this treaty is to address the imminent threat posed by the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization weapons aimed at Russian territory," said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, during a forum hosted in Seoul. Article 4 of the 23-point treaty could be interpreted as calling for automatic military intervention in the event of an attack on either country. This would mark the restoration of a Cold War-era alliance for the first time in 28 years, since the mutual defense treaty was scrapped in 1996. Hong further analyzed that Russia is likely to make it official and public to obtain more weapons from North Korea, referencing the article. "Although it has been an open secret that North Korea has been supplying weapons to Russia, Russia has never officially acknowledged it due to U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea," Hong said. Other experts also suggested that Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine could potentially lead to the destabilization of the Putin regime and that such a factor may be a driving force behind the strengthened ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. "Putin has signed a treaty with a much higher level of military cooperation than expected, in a desperate move to secure weapons," said Cho Han-beom, another chair researcher, during the forum. Source: Yonhap News Agency