Alliance of villains: the military-political union of the Russian Federation and North Korea against Ukraine as a conspiracy against the West and a threat to world security

Abstract

The current nature of relations between the DPRK and Russia can be described as a full-fledged military-political alliance, which took definitive shape in 2024–2025 against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the international isolation of both regimes, and the transformation of the global security system.

The main features of these relations are: military cooperation and mutual defence (in June 2024, the parties signed a landmark document – the Treaty on Strategic Partnership, which includes a clause on immediate military assistance in the event of aggression against one of the countries); arms supplies (the DPRK has become a key supplier of ammunition to the Russian Federation, including artillery shells, ballistic missiles and other weaponry); the participation of DPRK troops in the Russian-Ukrainian war (in the second half of 2024, the deployment of thousands of North Korean servicemen to Russia was recorded for direct participation in combat operations against Ukraine).

Furthermore, the two states have established a geopolitical barter arrangement based on the exchange of technology. Their relationship is built on a mutually beneficial exchange of ‘resources for technology’: from the Russian Federation, the DPRK receives food, fuel and, most importantly, critical technologies for modernising its submarine fleet, missile systems and air force; in return, Russia receives ‘cannon fodder’ and vast stocks of Soviet-calibre weapons from the DPRK, enabling it to continue its war of attrition.

Diplomatic and ideological unity have formed the foundation for the alliance: Pyongyang consistently supports Russia on the international stage (particularly at the UN), justifying Russian aggression and recognising the annexed Ukrainian territories; both countries position their alliance as a counterweight to ‘Western imperialism’ and the US, which brings them closer ideologically as ‘outcast states’.

At the same time, China plays a distinct, albeit veiled, role in forming a triad of authoritarian regimes within the anti-Western axis: Beijing maintains a certain distance and expresses concern over the ‘opaque nature’ of this military cooperation, whilst remaining the DPRK’s principal patron.

It has been demonstrated that the main geopolitical and geostrategic objective of the alliance lies in creating an alternative centre of power to systematically counter the West (primarily the US) and to revise the existing world order.