The security pact between Russia and North Korea implies that the countries will immediately – and with all means – help each other in the event of war.
The "invincible alliance" guarantees a new world order, it is stated in North Korean announcements filled with superlatives.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un signed the "strategic partnership agreement" in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
Kim called it an alliance. Vladimir Putin did not use that word.
If either of the countries is under "direct threat of an armed invasion", they will immediately coordinate to eliminate the threat, according to the agreement, as presented by North Korea's propaganda news agency KCNA.
And if either of the countries is invaded and goes to war, the other will provide military and other assistance with all available means, without delay, in accordance with the UN Charter's formulations on the right to self-defence and both countries' laws.
Wants to divide the world
According to KCNA, dictator Kim Jong-Un stated that his "heart overflowed with deep feelings when he stood together with comrades from Russia, the closest and most intimate of brothers in arms".
Kim describes the agreement as the "strongest" that the countries have entered into and as a "historic watershed". He also describes it as a "peace-loving and defence-oriented" initiative to accelerate development towards a "multipolar new world".
Article six of the agreement also states that the two countries will work towards a "multipolar world order".
Vladimir Putin has long advocated for such a world order. This is set in relation to an alleged American or Western hegemony, which would then need to be replaced by a new order where a certain group of great powers gets exclusive spheres of interest in the world. This has been supported by, among others, China.
This has, among other things, been highlighted as a precursor to the invasion war in Ukraine, which would then be incorporated into a Russian sphere.
"Like the Cold War"
North Korea and Russia also commit to not enter into agreements with other countries that contradict the other country's "core interests".
Vladimir Putin added at his appearance in Pyongyang that he does not rule out greater military-technical cooperation with North Korea, which is likely to involve weapons and equipment. North Korea has apparently already supplied Russia with many weapons for the war in Ukraine.
Experts liken the agreement to a pact that North Korea entered into with the Soviet Union in 1961.
North Korea and Russia have completely restored their military alliance from the Cold War era, says Cheong Seong Chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea to AP.
