Kim Jong Un has hailed North Korea's alliance with Russia in a public speech marking 80 years since the Korean peninsula's liberation from Japan's colonial rule, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
"Today, friendship between North Korea and Russia has developed into an unprecedented alliance, becoming ever more solid amid their common struggle to curb the revival of neo-Nazism and safeguard sovereignty, security and international justice," Kim was quoted as saying by the regime's mouthpiece, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The North Korean ruler said Pyongyang and Moscow were "creating history" in their struggle for world peace and stability, noting: "The might from the North Korea-Russia solidarity, forged with sublime ideas and genuine friendship... is infinite."
According to Yonhap, it marks the first time Kim has delivered a public speech for the August 15 anniversary.
In it, he was not quoted as mentioning South Korea or the United States, but did complain of ever-growing "misdeeds by imperialists" infringing upon the sovereignty and rights of other countries.
According to Yonhap, the ceremony was attended by a number of Russian guests including Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian parliament.
In a phone call earlier in the week, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed "to keep closer contact in the future," KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Moscow and Pyongyang signed a strategic partnership in 2024 during Putin's visit to North Korea. The agreement includes military assistance should one of the two countries be attacked.
North Korea has supported the Russian war against Ukraine by supplying weapons and soldiers to Moscow.
Ukraine has been warding off the full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
