SEOUL, December 27. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on New Year in a letter, published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"Dear my comrade! On behalf of the government of the DPRK and the Korean people, I extend the warmest and sincerest greeting of best wishes to you and, through you, to the government of the Russian Federation and the fraternal Russian people on the occasion of the New Year 2026," the letter reads.

The North Korean leader went on to say that Russia-DPRK relations have strengthened even more in 2025, evolving "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 Jong Un added that no one can break the relations between the peoples of the two countries and their unity, while justice and truth, victory and glory will always stand by Russia and its leader.

In conclusion, he wished Putin "good health and greater success in your responsible work for defending the dignity and interests of Russia on the occasion of the hopeful New Year 2026." "I sincerely hope that only happiness and prosperity will be in store for the Russian people," Kim Jong Un added.

In an earlier congratulatory letter to Kim Jong Un, also published by the KCNA, Putin noted "the heroic entry of soldiers of the Korean People's Army into the battles for liberating the Kursk region from occupiers and the subsequent activities of Korean engineers in the land of Russia," also praising the Russian-North Korean friendship. In his words, the two nations will continue to strengthen the relations of friendship and alliance in every way and conduct constructive cooperation on regional and international issues.