(Adnkronos) – The new Russian-North Korean alliance is on display in Moscow, at the Museum of Decorative Arts, adorned for the occasion with grandiose tributes from North Korean artists to the partnership born in the midst of the battle in Ukraine. Vivid depictions of North Korean soldiers and their Russian comrades united in the fight against the West dominate the exhibition celebrating the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
After months of denying reports that thousands of North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia’s western Kursk region to counter a Ukrainian incursion, when Russia declared in April that it had expelled Kyiv’s troops from its territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged the role of the “heroic” North Koreans who fought alongside his army. Scenes paying tribute to that deployment are now on display in the exhibition.
A canvas titled “For a Brother in Arms” depicts North Korean soldiers, machine guns in hand, awaiting combat. Another shows camouflaged fighters from both countries waving their national flags, others show missile launches and fighter jets striking an island. (continues)
The two countries have grown closer not only on the front lines, however. And in the exhibition, portraits of supreme leader Kim Jong-un occupy a place of honor, as does a tribute to kimchi, Korea’s spicy pickled vegetable. Putin and Kim embraced, recently participating in a large military parade in Beijing to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, both as guests of honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang began this summer, with an increasing number of officials and delegations traveling between the two capitals, with Russian tourists heading to the new North Korean seaside resort Wonsan-Kalma.
At the beginning of the exhibition, visitors are invited by a Russian guide to look at a giant photo of Kim shaking hands with Putin. The style recalls socialist realism: “Preparing Kimchi” shows several generations of a North Korean family, bent over on the floor, intent on preparing the traditional dish.
“But it’s a temporary partnership between Russia and North Korea,” comments a young Russian visitor who entered out of curiosity to see the exhibition. “It won’t last long, it’s only for the duration of the war in Ukraine,” he commented to AFP.
