North Korea’s Kim Strengthens Ties with Russia, Drawing China’s Ire

Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un this week in talks that were officially about building “close strategic communication” between the neighboring nations. But the undertones of mounting suspicions between Beijing and Pyongyang as Russian influence on the Korean Peninsula continues to grow were impossible to ignore.

In recent decades, China, Russia, and North Korea have often operated in concert with one another, acting as a counterweight to American influence on the Eurasian landmass and in the Pacific Ocean. But as is the case with all authoritarian nations, jealousy and distrust have frequently strained ties. Both China and Russia have been wary of North Korea growing too close to either of its two main partners.

Xi’s visit this week was his first to the Hermit Kingdom in seven years and just the second of his 13-year rule. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Kim three times since 2024 alone.

The first major sign of growing cooperation between Russia and North Korea came two years ago when the nations signed a landmark mutual defense agreement. In exchange for an estimated $14.4 billion, North Korea has provided artillery shells, ballistic missiles, air defense, and anti-tank systems for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Additionally, North Korea has sent more than 20,000 soldiers to Russia across four deployments since October 2024.

Along with direct financial support for its floundering economy, Russia has also supplied North Korea with advanced weapons – reducing China’s leverage and unsettling leaders in Beijing. According to South Korean military officials, Russia may have helped North Korea develop its new warship, a 5,000-ton destroyer named Choe Hyon. Some analysts believe this ship could be equipped with tactical nuclear missiles.

For North Korea, the relationship with Moscow is a sweet deal. “Kim can’t believe his luck,” said Professor Tancrede Beaugendre, a former diplomat who now resides in Kazakhstan. “Naturally, Kim will magnify Russia’s political messaging. It costs nothing.” In return, North Korea receives vital financial resources and advanced technology that Beijing has been reluctant to supply.

Still, ties between Beijing and Pyongyang run deep. China has repeatedly blocked enforcement of United Nations sanctions on North Korea, including firing flares at an Australian military helicopter in March. The helicopter was operating in the Yellow Sea as part of a sanctions enforcement operation.

But China now feels cornered by North Korea’s shifting relationship with Russia. In the dynamic between the three countries, Beijing has always sought to be the undisputed leader. Some influential Chinese Communist Party (CCP) factions reportedly feel “slighted” by Putin. Xi’s visit could thus be an opportunity for the Chinese leader to urge Kim to keep his distance from Russia or else risk a change in China’s support for North Korea.

“The CCP has long viewed Pyongyang as a troublesome younger brother – embarrassing, yet sometimes useful,” said Professor Luli Jiao-long, a former CCP official. Putin is crafting a strategy that avoids openly antagonizing China, but still leaves Beijing unsettled by a heavily armed and temperamental neighbor.

As Luli explained, Russia, desperate for support in its war against Ukraine, has shown great deference to Kim in a way that China has not. “Russia has rekindled ties with Kim as it once had with his grandfather,” Professor Luli said. “The Kremlin treats Kim as an equal, forcing Beijing to follow suit, though it struggles to adjust.”

Along with seeking greater economic assistance from China, one of the top items on Kim’s agenda was greater acceptance for North Korea’s nuclear program. While Beijing and Pyongyang have long presented a united front against American influence in the region, Chinese leaders have sought to curtail North Korea’s nuclear capabilities for fear of becoming collateral damage in a potential retaliatory strike from the United States.

As of 2024, North Korea controlled an estimated stockpile of 50 nuclear warheads. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un and the de facto vice-leader of the country, has described the country’s nuclear status as “a line of no retreat” in a remark interpreted as being directed at Beijing.

Just last week, Kim publicly toured a new facility designed to produce fuel for nuclear weapons and touted plans to expand the country’s arsenal. Experts I spoke to said this was a calculated action intended as a show of defiance against Beijing’s desire for North Korea to temper its nuclear ambitions.

“Imagine your neighbor quietly keeping a few venomous snakes – then suddenly filling the house with a hundred,” said retired Rear Admiral Yuzhe, a former Chinese naval officer, about North Korea building up its nuclear stockpile. Yuzhe added that Russia also shares some concerns about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, but is more willing to tolerate them than China.

The dynamic between Russia, China, and North Korea is one to watch in the months and years ahead. All three have a common interest in countering Western power and influence – particularly that of the United States. As such, they’ve often worked together as an informal alliance. But suspicions and mistrust may be forming the earliest signs of cracks between them – and perhaps providing an opportunity for their enemies to exploit.

Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.