SEOUL, March  18, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in
a congratulatory message to Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russian voters had
shown "unshakeable support" for their re-elected president, state media
reported.

"Your re-election to the heavy responsibility of the head of state is the
Russian people's valuable estimate of the outstanding leadership and tenacious
executive ability you displayed in state activities with a high prestige as the
leader of the nation," Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency
(KCNA).

He added that Putin's victory was an expression of Russian voters'
"unshakeable support and trust in" the Russian leader.

Russia and North Korea, historical allies, are both under a raft of global
sanctions -- Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang for its testing
of nuclear weapons.

In September, Putin and Kim held a summit in Russia's far east, with the
United States subsequently claiming Pyongyang had begun providing Moscow with
weapons.

Kim declared during the visit that ties with Moscow were his country's
"number one priority", with Pyongyang becoming an ardent supporter of Moscow's
invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea has shipped around 7,000 containers of arms to Russia for its
war with Ukraine since the transfers began around last July, South Korea's
defence minister asserted Monday.

"I am firmly convinced that, under your energetic and correct guidance, the
Russian people will surely win victory in the cause of reliably defending the
sovereignty and security of the country," Kim said in his message, according to
KCNA.

Putin won over 87 percent of the vote in a three-day ballot blasted as
illegitimate by Western powers.