DPRK, Russia sign comprehensive strategic partnership agreement after summit: KCNA

SEOUL, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The top leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia on Wednesday signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership following their summit in Pyongyang, state media reported Thursday.

The treaty was the culmination of the state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which also featured a bilateral summit meeting and private talks between him and Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, as well as a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square and a grand performance, among other high-profile events, according to multiple reports by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In a joint statement, the DPRK top leader said the conclusion of the treaty put the relations of the two countries on a new higher stage called the relations of alliance, calling it "the most powerful treaty in the history of the DPRK-Russia relations," the KCNA reported.

The Russian president said the treaty is an "actual breakthrough document" reflecting the desire of the two countries to put the bilateral ties on a new level, the report said.

The treaty includes a clause stipulating mutual support if one of the signatories to the treaty is invaded, and Russia "does not rule out military technical cooperation with the DPRK under the treaty," the KCNA said.

In the lead-up to the most signature event of the day, the top leaders had a "tete-a-tete" which lasted for more than two hours, during which they reached a consensus on building a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and came to a "satisfactory" agreement on defending regional and global peace and international justice and on the matters of immediate cooperation, the KCNA reported.

Prior to the private conversation, the two sides held an extended bilateral meeting involving senior officials from both countries, where Kim hailed Putin's visit as an event of strategic significance in developing the DPRK-Russia good-neighborly relations, and reaffirmed "the full support and solidarity of the DPRK government and people to the Russian government and people as regards the special military operations in Ukraine," the KCNA said.

In addition to the treaty, the two governments signed agreements concerning the construction of a motorcar bridge over the River Tuman on their shared border and the bilateral cooperation in the fields of public health, medical education and science, the KCNA said.

Also on Wednesday, in a show of utmost respect to the visiting Russian president, the DPRK side awarded Putin the Order of Kim Il Sung, the highest medal of honor of the country, and hosted a banquet in his honor, the KCNA reported.

Putin concluded his state visit and left the DPRK capital on Wednesday night, as Kim took senior DPRK officials to Pyongyang International Airport to see him off, it added.