Dmitry Medvedev has held meetings with top officials in Pyongyang and paid homage to former North Korean leaders and fallen Soviet soldiers

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has visited North Korea this week to hold talks with top officials and attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the country's ruling Workers' Party.

Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and chairman of the United Russia party, arrived in the North Korean capital on Wednesday at the head of a large delegation. Upon landing, he wrote on the Russian messenger Max: "Friends are together. Enemies are getting nervous." 

During his stay, Medvedev laid a wreath at the Liberation Monument in Pyongyang in honor of Soviet soldiers who died fighting Japanese forces in 1945 and placed flowers at the statues of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

The ex-president also held talks with Cho Yong-won, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, where both sides affirmed growing cooperation in politics, the economy, culture and military affairs.

Medvedev also praised "the heroic deed of Korean fighters who helped the Russian military liberate Kursk Region" from a Ukrainian incursion this spring, adding that this cooperation "will forever remain in the chronicle of friendship between our two countries."

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He added that Russia-North Korea relations "will continue to advance under the leadership of comrade Kim Jong-un." 

Cho said cooperation between the two nations was entering "a new period of unprecedented development" thanks to the "warm personal friendship of our respected leaders." 

In June 2024, Russia and North Korea signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which includes a mutual-defense clause stating that if either side comes under armed attack, the other will "provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal without delay."