“A return to Cold War”, The Guardian: Putin and Kim joined forces as global dolphins

The challenging Russian-Northern friendship Pact raises big questions about Washington and Seoul, but also about Beijing, writes The Guardian in an analysis of Vladimir Putin's meeting with Kim Jong.

A quarter of a century ago, Vladimir Putin flew to the ceran to sign a <x0computer” with Kim Jong-il who helped revive Russia's relations with North Korea without forcing both sides to come to aid in the event of a military attack.

With his visit last week, Putin has actually gone further into the past, signing an agreement with Kim Jong to remind him of the 1961 security pact that existed under the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But today Russia is involved in a hot war in Ukraine, which Putin has made a priority of his foreign policy, and a nuclear North Korea has become an essential ammunition line for his army, writes the British newspaper, reports The Express.

“The treaty Putin signed with Kim Jong was a return to the Cold War, but certainly in the Cold North Korean War there were no nuclear weapons”, said Dr Edward Howell, associate of the Korea Foundation with the Asia-Peacekeeping programme at Chatham House, and professor at Oxford University.

While last week's summit was years in preparation, however, it marked a starting point in Russia's relations with North Korea and such as American officials have warned that it could destabilise an unpleasant balance act in the region.