Kim Jong Un Vows to Pass Down North Korea-Russia Friendship Across Generations; Putin Confirms Joint Projects

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Liberation Tower, a monument commemorating former Soviet soldiers, to lay a wreath alongside his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, on the occasion of the 81st Liberation Day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent a congratulatory message to Kim for Liberation Day, emphasizing friendly relations and mentioning the two countries' "joint projects," which is seen as alluding to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.

The Korean Central News Agency reported today (the 15th) that Chairman Kim Jong Un "visited the Liberation Tower on August 14 on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the country's liberation."

Kim laid a wreath bearing his name at the Liberation Tower, with the inscription, "We will not forget the feats of the Soviet army martyrs."

"The great historical traditions and blood ties between North Korea and Russia serve as the fundamental cornerstone and boundless driving force of today's friendly and cooperative bilateral relations," Kim was quoted as saying by the agency, adding, "The great friendship and unity between the peoples of the two countries, forged through noble ideals and genuine militant camaraderie, will be firmly inherited and developed across generations alongside a new era of comprehensive blooming."

This marks the third time Kim has visited the Liberation Tower for Liberation Day.

He has been visiting the Liberation Tower around Liberation Day since 2024, when the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" (North Korea-Russia Treaty) was signed, displaying his close ties with Russia both at home and abroad.

The Pyongyang Liberation Tower is a symbol commemorating Soviet soldiers who died in battle while driving out the Japanese military from North Korean territory in 1945.

Russian authorities claim that about 47,000 Soviet soldiers were killed or wounded in those battles.

President Putin also sent a congratulatory message to Chairman Kim to mark the 80th anniversary of liberation.

"Today, relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have risen to an unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership. Our nations are actively cooperating in all areas and aligning efforts to ensure regional safety and stability," Putin said.

"I am confident that we will continue our urgent joint projects on bilateral and international issues to establish a more just and genuine democratic world order for the welfare of the peoples of Russia and North Korea," he emphasized.

Putin also recalled that Soviet soldiers fought together to liberate North Korea from past Japanese colonial rule, stating, "It was during that harsh period that the solid traditions of militant camaraderie and mutual assistance were laid, serving as the basis for the development of friendly, good-neighborly relations between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

The leaders of North Korea and Russia exchange congratulatory messages every year on the occasion of Liberation Day.

However, North Korean media did not mention any reply message from Chairman Kim.

The "joint projects" between the two countries mentioned by President Putin in his congratulatory message are interpreted as referring to North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia.

North Korea and Russia signed the "Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" during a summit between State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin held in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.

Based on this treaty—which stipulates that if either country is faced with a state of war due to an armed invasion, the other shall provide military and other assistance without delay—North Korea has closely aligned with Russia as a "blood alliance," deploying combat troops and engineering units to the war in Ukraine starting in October of that year.

Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that North Korea may dispatch additional troops, alleging that Russia wants an additional 30,000 North Korean soldiers and is preparing to deploy them to border areas.

Kyodo News also reported, citing Ukrainian Defense Ministry data, that North Korea and Russia are considering plans to increase the scale of North Korean troop deployments to 50,000 by the end of November.

On the 14th, marking Liberation Day, Chairman Kim visited the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery, where anti-Japanese partisans and independence activists are buried, to lay a wreath, and also visited the Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial.

After paying respects to the revolutionary martyrs, he said, "The great cause of the Korean people in inheriting the noble revolutionary spirit and lofty outlook on life of the [anti-Japanese revolutionary] fighters across generations will be perpetually invincible."

Chairman Kim was accompanied on his visits to the Liberation Tower and the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery by his daughter Ju-ae and wife Ri Sol-ju.

This is the first time Kim Ju-ae has accompanied Kim on Liberation Day memorial visits.

This is interpreted as an effort to highlight Ju-ae as a symbol of future generations and a prominent "successor" in the Paektu bloodline lineage, while simultaneously demonstrating the will to continue the North Korea-Russia blood alliance across generations.

Ju-ae, who has been exposed to North Korean media since 2022, previously attended memorial events for war veterans—including the Cemetery of Martyred Fighters for the Fatherland Liberation War and the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery—for the first time last month on July 27, the anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement (referred to in North Korea as Victory Day).

Meanwhile, Ri Il-hwan, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, who had disappeared from public view since June, also accompanied Chairman Kim on his visit to the Daesongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.

(Photo: Korean Central News Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.