THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

Kim's best wishes to 'dear friend' Putin, '2025 is a year of victory' Message from the North Korean leader to the Russian president North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hailed Vladimir Putin as his “dear friend” in a New Year’s letter to the Russian president, praising the close bilateral ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korean state media said this today. The two countries have deepened political, military and cultural ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Putin and Kim repeatedly professing their personal closeness. They signed a historic defense pact during the tsar’s visit to North Korea in June. The pact obliges them to provide immediate military assistance if the other is invaded and came into force this month. Kim’s latest message described Putin as his “dear friend and comrade”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The North’s leader sent “warm greetings of good wishes to the brotherly Russian people and to all the service personnel of the brave Russian army on behalf of himself, the Korean people and all the service personnel of the armed forces of the DPRK” (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). In a possible reference to the war in U…

North Korea's Kim Stresses Shared Bloodshed in New Year Message to Putin By AFP Dec. 27, 2025 Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin share a hug after a bilateral meeting in China. Sergei Bobylev/POOL/TASS North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted on Saturday how his nation and Russia had shared "blood, life and death" in the Ukraine war, as he sent President Vladimir Putin New Year's greetings. Pyongyang has dispatched thousands of troops to fight for Moscow, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, as Russia presses ahead with its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine. In the message, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, Kim said 2025 was a "really meaningful year" for the bilateral alliance that was consolidated by "sharing blood, life and death in the same trench." North Korea only confirmed in April that it had deployed troops to support Russia's military campaign against Ukraine and that its soldiers had been killed in combat. Earlier this month, Pyongyang acknowledged that it had sent troops to clear mines in Russia's Kursk region in August 2025. At least nine troops from an engineering regiment were killed during the 120-day deployment, Kim said in a s…

North Korea's Kim voices full support for Russia, sends National Day ... Audio By Carbonatix SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Russia’s National Day, voicing full support for Moscow’s domestic and foreign policies, state media KCNA said on Friday. Kim said ties between North Korea and Russia were strengthening into an alliance based on a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, and pledged to “always be with” Russia, KCNA reported. Separately, Russian and North Korean officials visited a monument and cemetery of fallen Soviet Army fighters to mark Russia’s National Day, while Russia’s embassy hosted a reception for North Korean senior officials, KCNA said. Ties between the two countries have been deepening amid North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. Officials in Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells, missiles and other military materials for use in Ukraine, though Moscow and Pyongyang denied arms transfers. The two countries signed the strategic partnership treaty during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang in…

North Korea’s Kim sends greetings to Putin ahead of National Day of Russia The message was delivered to a Russian Foreign Ministry official by North Korean Ambassador to Russia Sin Hong Chol

NK leader Kim sends New Year's message to Putin, calls bilateral ties ... Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un hold a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Sept. 3. TASS-Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message of greeting to Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of New Year's Day, calling the two countries' relations a "precious common asset," the North's state media said Saturday. In the message, Kim described this year as a "meaningful" one when the two countries "steadily wrote a great biography of the alliance" through "full mutual support and selfless encouragement," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim's greeting came after Putin himself sent a New Year's message to the North Korean leader Dec. 18. "I think that today's DPRK-Russia alliance ... is a precious common asset to be carried forward forever, not only in the present era but also by posterity, generation after generation," Kim said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim said the North-Russia relations have been further consolidated into the "sincerest alliance of sha…

North Korean leader Kim calls ties with Russia top priority ... - AsiaOne SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday (May 9) reaffirmed his country's commitment to its mutual defence treaty with Russia, in a message to President Vladimir Putin congratulating Russia on the anniversary of the ​defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two. Kim reiterated North Korea's position to "give top priority" to its partnership with Russia and its commitment to "the implementation of the obligations of the inter-state treaty," according to KCNA. Russia and North Korea in 2024 ‌signed a "Comprehensive ⁠Strategic Partnership Treaty" during a visit to Pyongyang by Putin. The pact includes a mutual defence provision. North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk during the ongoing war in Ukraine. South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said those troops suffered heavy casualties, with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed in the fighting. On Saturday, Russia holds its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to the threat of attack from Ukraine, where victory for Moscow's forces has proven elusive more than four years in to the deadl…

N. Korea's Kim sends message to Putin ahead of Russia's national day North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory letter to Russian President Vladamir Putin ahead of Russia's national day this week, its state media said Thursday. The message was "courteously conveyed to an official concerned of the Russian Foreign Ministry by Sin Hong Chol, DPRK's ambassador to the Russian Federation," the North's Korea Central News Agency reported, without further elaborating. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. North Korea and Russia have been bolstering their ties since June 2024, following the "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty signed between their leaders. The treaty is considered to have effectively revived the two country's Cold War-era military alliance. After the signing, Pyongyang deployed around 15,000 combat troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine and deepened bilateral cooperation on multiple fronts. Early last month, Kim also sent a congratulatory message to Putin on Russia's Victory Day celebration. How squishies and nostalgia revived Seoul’s old markets The line outside a toy wholesaler in Se…

(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim reaffirms alliance with Russia in letter to Putin SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged unwaverin...

N. Korea's Kim reaffirms alliance with Russia in letter to Putin SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged unwaverin...

N. Korea leader Kim vows continued support to Russia in war anniv ... The national flag of North Korea. (Mainichi) BEIJING (Kyodo) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday reaffirmed his country's commitment to a bilateral defense cooperation pact with Russia in a congratulatory message sent to President Vladimir Putin on the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. North Korea will "give top priority to the comprehensive strategic partnership of alliance character between our two countries and invariably develop it," Kim said in the message, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The remarks signal Pyongyang's determination to continue to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to aid in the fighting under the defense pact signed by Kim and Putin in 2024. The treaty includes a provision for mutual assistance in the event either country comes under attack. "I affirm once again that we will always be responsible for the implementation of the obligations of the inter-state treaty between the DPRK and Russia," Kim said, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republi…

N. Korea's Kim sends message to Putin ahead of Russia's national day: KCNA SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory...