Kim Jong Un and Putin sign mutual defense pact in North Korea

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SEOUL, South Korea — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new pact Wednesday that includes a pledge of mutual defense if either is attacked. The agreement was sealed at a summit in Pyongyang during a rare visit by Putin to the reclusive nuclear-armed state as both countries face growing confrontations with the West. In a news conference after the summit, Putin said the agreement, which he called “a truly breakthrough document,” reflected the two countries’ shared desire to raise relations to a new level — covering security, trade, investment, and cultural and humanitarian ties. Kim said it was a peaceful agreement that elevated relations to an alliance. The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, both of which have been isolated by global sanctions, could expand transfers of military technology to Pyongyang in exchange for supplies of munitions that Moscow’s military badly needs for its war in Ukraine. U.S. officials previously told NBC News that such transfers could vastly enhance North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs and threaten the Asia-Pacific region. Kim, who has been accelerating weapons testing and stoking tensions with U.S. ally South Korea, on Wednesday promised his “full support” for what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. A lavish welcome Putin’s visit Wednesday, his first to North Korea in 24 years, comes as the Kremlin’s forces push for breakthroughs in Ukraine’s east and north while Kyiv’s defenses have been bolstered by new commitments from its own allies. He arrived at midday for a welcome ceremony at central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after Kim’s grandfather and North Korea’s founder. Standing before a large crowd of cheering civilians, Putin and Kim greeted officials on a red carpet outside the square’s main building, from which two giant portraits of them stared down. Military bands played the two countries’ national anthems, and children waved balloons and the Russian and North Korean flags.