North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over the annual year-end general meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from Dec. 23-27, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on Sunday. (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over the annual year-end general meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from Dec. 23-27, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on Sunday. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s New Year letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, filled with ornate praise and pledges to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership, underscores the stark contrast with Pyongyang’s increasingly strained relations with China.

While Kim praised Russia as a "close comrade-in-arms," China-North Korea ties marked their 75th anniversary with neither public celebrations nor a closing ceremony for the designated Friendship Year, reflecting growing discord beneath the surface.

Kim penned the letter Monday and extended warm New Year greetings to “Comrade Putin, his closest friend and comrade," North Korean state media reported Tuesday in a Korean-language dispatch.

In the letter, Kim conveyed "heartfelt blessings on behalf of himself, the Korean people, and all the service members of the DPRK’s armed forces to the fraternal Russian people and the valiant members of the Russian military."

The DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Unification Ministry on Tuesday highlighted the unusual nature of Kim extending blessings on behalf of all the service members of North Korea’s armed forces, given the regime’s concealment from its people of troop deployments to support Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, which have resulted in deaths and injuries.

“Although North Korea has not officially confirmed it, such an expression is presumed to have been used with the ongoing deployment of troops to Russia in mind,” a senior Unification Ministry official said Tuesday on condition of anonymity during a closed-door briefing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchange documents during a signing ceremony of a new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024.  (File Photo - Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchange documents during a signing ceremony of a new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (File Photo - Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In the letter, Kim described 2024 as a year that will elevate the North Korea-Russia friendship to “a new height of strategic cooperative relationship and close comrade-in-arms.”

Kim also “expressed his willingness to further solidify the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia by planning and vigorously implementing new initiatives for the realization of the great national causes of both countries and for the peace and prosperity of their peoples, based on the most genuine and fervent comradely trust.”

Kim and Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, including mutual defense commitments, during Putin's June visit to Pyongyang -- his first in 24 years.

Kim also expressed hope that the coming year would be marked as “the first year of war victory in the 21st century” and wished for Putin’s great success.

Kim has frequently sent personal letters to Putin on key occasions this year such as his birthday, Russia's National Day and "Victory Day" on May 9 to emphasize the close ties between Pyongyang and Moscow and highlight his rapport with Putin.

Kim’s eloquent New Year letter to Putin — the only such correspondence reported by North Korean media as of Tuesday — stands in sharp contrast to the increasingly strained relations between China and North Korea.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and North Korea, yet no significant ceremonies or events have been publicly held to commemorate the occasion until the last day of this year, aside from an opening ceremony in April in Pyongyang.

On the first day of 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un jointly designated the year as the China-North Korea Friendship Year and announced the launch of a series of commemorative activities.

However, beyond the visit of a Chinese delegation led by top legislator Zhao Leji for the opening ceremony in April, there have been no additional visits by senior officials from either side. Furthermore, no closing ceremony had been reported as of Tuesday, the final day of the year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping speak during a plenary session in the outreach/BRICS Plus format at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, 2024. (File Photo - Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping speak during a plenary session in the outreach/BRICS Plus format at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, 2024. (File Photo - Reuters)

When questioned Monday about the events held to commemorate the Friendship Year, China’s assessment of the year and the absence of a closing ceremony, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning refrained from directly responding.

Mao instead said, "China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors and always enjoy a traditional friendship and cooperative ties."

"China stands ready to work with the DPRK to follow the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries and to maintain, consolidate and develop our bilateral relations," Mao added during a press briefing.

In its annual forecast of the global landscape for 2025, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, assessed that “China and North Korea outwardly highlighted strategic cooperation in 2024, while their relationship was strained beneath the surface by mounting mutual discontent and distrust.”

"This dynamic is expected to persist in China-North Korea relations throughout 2025," the report read. "China needs to sustain strategic cooperation with North Korea at the bilateral level amid intensifying strategic competition with the United States," the report stated.

It noted that China has sought to distance itself from the deepening Russia-North Korea partnership and carefully managed its policies toward the EU and the Korean Peninsula while downplaying the significance of North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.

The report forecast that the Kim Jong-un regime might formalize its troop deployments to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, particularly if casualties or returning troops make secrecy untenable.

"Given this, Pyongyang may, in the first half of 2025, publicly acknowledge the troop deployment and launch a campaign framing it as a 'sacred duty in the battle against imperialism.'"