A NATO-style defense pact and an image boost – what Putin got from North Korean visit

CNN —

Vladmir Putin’s first visit to North Korea in nearly a quarter of a century has been intensely scrutinized around the world. Russia knew the West was watching and the optics were not subtle.

Putin has been left out of many global gatherings of late, and risks arrest in much of the world thanks to a warrant from the International Criminal Court over his invasion of Ukraine.

But on Wednesday, the increasingly isolated Russian president was met with a rapturous welcome in Pyongyang. Children waved Russian flags as Putin’s giant picture adorned one side of Kim Il Sung square, while footage broadcast on Russian state media showed posters of the Kremlin leader lining the streets. All of it was a signal to the world that not only is Putin is not isolated, his patronage is still prized in some parts of the globe.

And here, unlike in China, no one could accuse him of being the junior partner.

Neither the rhetoric of the two leaders, nor the so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership pact” they signed, left any doubt that the overarching goal was to band together against what Putin described as “the imperialist policy of the United States and its satellites.”

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend an official welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 19, 2024.

Related article Putin says Russia and North Korea will help each other if attacked, taking ties to a ‘new level’

The pact contains a clause similar to NATO’s Article V, providing, according to Putin, “for the provision of mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement.”

According to the text of the pact, which was published on Thursday by North