Unraveling North Korea’s perception of diplomacy with Russia: focusing on the strategic emergence of the friendship and cooperation relationship in 2023

Since 2023, North Korea and Russia have been rapidly intensifying their amicable relationship. This study investigates North Korea’s current perceptions regarding its diplomacy with Russia. While previous studies have primarily examined the military sector with respect to North Korea–Russia relations, because North Korea’s military policy constitutes a branch of its diplomatic strategy tailored to political objectives, assessing North Korea’s diplomatic policy solely from the perspective of military cooperation can yield only a limited analysis. Therefore, it is necessary to consider North Korea’s long-established diplomatic belief system and its implications on its diplomatic policy. This study seeks to derive the attributes of North Korea’s perception of its diplomacy with Russia by interpreting the ‘internal discursification’ attempted by North Korean authorities. Methodologically, Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is utilized as a key medium for internal discursification. Our analysis reveals that North Korea is establishing diplomatic routes to simultaneously pursue its autonomy and interests and is influencing Russia to support North Korea’s pursued national identity and interests. Additionally, this study confirms the intention of North Korean domestic politics to strengthen the authority of Kim Jong Un by constructing an image of an international leader.