North Korea leader Kim Jong-un congratulates Putin on 79th WWII anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate Moscow on the 79th anniversary of its victory in World War II, Pyongyang’s state-controlled media reported on Thursday.

May 9 in Russia is annually celebrated as Victory Day to commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

In his message the North Korean leader offered “warm congratulations and comradely greetings” to the Russian president and expressed “firm support and solidarity with the sacred cause of Russia,” according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim also expressed his hope that Putin and the “brave Russian army and people would win fresh victory in the struggle to defeat the imperialists’ hegemonic policy” and “vicious challenges and threats from hostile forces” in apparent reference to Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which is being supported with weapons from the United States and its European allies.

The message is Kim’s second in two days to Putin, whom he congratulated earlier in the week for beginning a fifth presidential term through a letter delivered via the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang.

Putin’s new six-year term kicked off on Tuesday, two months after he won a presidential election in March that international observers said was neither free nor fair.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official from Seoul’s Unification Ministry told reporters that Pyongyang is trying to “flaunt” the closeness of its ties to Moscow and “create a mood” appropriate for a potential trip by the Russian president to the North.

The Kremlin previously said that Putin accepted Kim’s invitation to visit the North during their rare summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East in September, but the date of the Russian president’s visit has yet to be announced.

North Korea and Russia have deepened their military cooperation since the two leaders’ meeting.

South Korean and U.S. defense and intelligence officials have accused the North of ramping up suspected weapons shipments to Russia and believe Pyongyang received technical assistance in return to carry out its first successful satellite launch last October.

Ukrainian officials have reported finding remnants of North Korean missiles fired by Russian forces within their territory.

Moscow has also lent Pyongyang diplomatic support by preventing the extension of a panel of experts that advises the United Nations Security Council on international compliance and enforcement of sanctions against the North.

The panel disbanded on April 30 due to the Russian veto on a Security Council resolution in late March which would have prolonged its mandate for another year.

Earlier this month, a group of 50 countries including South Korea, the United States and Japan issued a joint statement calling for an “objective, independent” mechanism to continue monitoring enforcement of sanctions on North Korea after the panel’s disbandment.

In their statement, the 50 signatories said that Russia’s “use of the veto in this instance has deprived UN member states of vital information and guidance to implement the measures adopted” by the Security Council and “undermined” its efforts to enforce sanctions targeting the North’s illicit weapons programs.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]