Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hold bilateral talks at the Kumsusan State Guest House, Wednesday. Tass-Yonhap

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed commitment to boosting relations with Pyongyang, while North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his full support for Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, during their summit in the North's capital, Wednesday.

Their enhanced solidarity is expected to intensify their anti-Western front and shake up the international security structure, with potential increased military threats to South Korea and Pyongyang’s deeper involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The two leaders held their summit in the North Korean capital, after Putin arrived there early Wednesday morning, later than scheduled. The visit was also reciprocal to Kim's visit to Russia last September.

Speaking at the summit, Putin expressed gratitude for Kim’s unwavering support for Russia.

“We highly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including that about Ukraine,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russia’s Tass news agency.

He said Russia has been opposing the hegemony and imperialism of the U.S. and its allies for decades, emphasizing his country's readiness to establish a new, long-term relationship with North Korea.

Putin remarked that Kim's last visit to Russia marked significant progress in the development of the bilateral relationship between their two countries. He expressed his hope to host the next summit in Moscow.

The North Korean leader praised Russia’s role in maintaining strategic stability in the world, adding that their relationship has entered a period of “new prosperity.”

“We appreciate the important mission and role of a strong Russia in maintaining strategic balance in the world, and also express full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests, and also territorial integrity,” Kim was quoted as saying by Russia’ Sputnik news agency.

The two leaders agreed to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, as announced the previous day by Putin’s foreign affairs aide Yuri Ushakov. He said a treaty on the partnership will replace the fundamental documents that were inked in 1961 and 2000.

Putin arrived at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport earlier in the day and was greeted by Kim, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The two leaders shared a hug at the airport and rode together in Putin’s vehicle to Kumsusan State Guest House.

This marked Putin’s first visit to North Korea since July 2000, when he met with then-leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader. It was Putin's third summit with Kim Jong-un following the first in April 2019 and the second in September last year.

“Putin's visit to the DPRK comes at a remarkable time, when the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the DPRK and Russia have surely entered a course of new comprehensive development, is of great importance in reliably promoting the strategic and future-oriented development of DPRK-Russia relations,” the KCNA said. DPRK is an acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In Pyongyang, Russian flags and portraits of Putin hung throughout the city and residents lined the streets to welcome the Russian leader ahead of a welcoming ceremony that took place at Kim Il Sung Square.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, front left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, attend a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, Wednesday. AFP-Yonhap

Experts said the Russian delegation accompanying Putin on his trip offers clues about what issues could have been discussed during the summit.

The delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, head of the Ministry of Transport Roman Starovoyt, Head of Roscosmos Yury Borisov, head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov, the governor of Primorye Oleg Kozhemyako and others.

“It looks like the summit focused on issues including boosting ties in defense, trade, energy, space, transport and health. One notable matter is that Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko attended the meeting, which suggests that Russia and North Korea discussed arms trade and weapons performances in more detail,” said Doo Jin-ho, a research fellow at the Center for Security and Strategy in the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

“Russia will likely provide technological assistance to the North for its space development program, especially with spy satellite launch efforts, although it is not likely to transfer sensitive weapons technology to Pyongyang,” Doo added.

Since the previous summit in September, North Korea has been supplying Russia with ammunition in exchange for technological assistance for its space program.

Hyun Seung-soo, a Russia expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a think tank, said, “Putin wants to show the world that Russia-North Korea relations have returned to the level of the blood alliance seen during the Cold War, cement their solidarity against the U.S. and its allies, and boost cooperation in tourism, youth exchange and sports that are within the scope of not violating Western sanctions.”

He continued, “Although they agreed to elevate the level of military, security and economic cooperation, there’s a low possibility of clinching a treaty akin to a military alliance because Russia would not want to risk criticism as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.”

As to their comprehensive strategic partnership, Doo said, “Although Moscow and Pyongyang have expanded the scope and depth of cooperation in relatively short amount of time, there is a low possibility of the two signing an alliance-level treaty which includes automatic military intervention.”

Experts also mentioned that Russia would seek to expand the use of its currency, the ruble, through multilateral development institutions as a strategy to reduce U.S. influence.

“As Putin wrote in his op-ed piece in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Russia is keen on expanding the use of the ruble as an alternative trade and mutual settlement mechanism to the U.S. dollar. He might want Kim to play a bigger role in shaping the architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia to counter international sanctions together,” Hyun said.