The leaders of Russia and North Korea are set to sign a “treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership” that could elevate the bilateral ties to a new level possibly in the fields of military, technology and economy upon President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea for the first time in 24 years on Tuesday.
The Russian president signed a presidential decree to “accept the proposal” of the Foreign Ministry in Moscow on signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, according to an English language decree dated Monday but released Tuesday.
The decree also said Putin allowed the Foreign Ministry to “make changes to its draft that are not of a fundamental nature.”
Putin’s aide for foreign affairs, Yury Ushakov, announced Monday that the new treaty, if signed, will replace the Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighborliness and Cooperation signed in 2000, and the Moscow and Pyongyang Declarations of 2000 and 2001.
