'Blood, life & death': North Korea's Kim sends New Year's wishes to 'comrade Putin'; reaffirms 'invincible' alliance

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday sent New Year's greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the latter shared his greetings with Kim on December 20. Describing the "invincibility and might" of the alliance, Kim mentioned that the two nations share "blood, life and death in the same trench," underscoring the commitment of North Korean troops currently supporting Russian operations in Ukraine.

"Along with the past days of 2025, the DPRK-Russia relations have been further consolidated into the sincerest alliance of sharing blood, life and death in the same trench, and their absolute solidity and mightiness have been more vividly etched in the pages of the times and history," Kim said in his letter to Putin as reported by KCNA.




"I think that today's DPRK-Russia alliance, whose peculiar invincibility and might has been verified most thoroughly in the grave tempest of history," read the letter, "is a precious common asset to be carried forward forever not only in the present era but also by posterity generation after generation."

Kim Jong Un further expressed his pride in the two nations' friendship and vowed to carry it forward.

"I have always felt boundless pride in creating and writing the great history of the DPRK-Russia relations," Kim's letter read, "Justice and truth, victory and glory will always stand by you and your Russia."

The greetings come in response to Russia's extended wishes to Kim Jong Un, praising the "level of comprehensive strategic partnership" the two nations have achieved.

Russia too, expressed its interest in building deeper strategic partnerships with North Korea as they said, "I hope that the many-sided mutual cooperation between the two countries, including the cooperation between the United Russia Party and the Workers' Party of Korea, will continue to expand, providing new possibilities for carrying out the reciprocal initiatives and joint undertakings for the well-being of our peoples."

Earlier, in April, North Korea for the very first time confirmed sending troops to Russia to support its offensive against Ukraine which helped Russia regain control of the territories occupied by Ukraine.