Why It Matters
Vladimir Putin inked a landmark military assistance pact with Kim during the Russian leader's June 2024 visit to Pyongyang. The partnership shifted into top gear late last year with the deployment of North Korean troops to support Russian forces in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea is also the only country with which China maintains a mutual defense treaty, and the People's Liberation Army was instrumental in pushing advancing U.S.-led troops back across the 38th Parallel.