Seoul: In accordance with state-run media KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday and gave him a tour of a defence exhibition that included Pyongyang's outlawed ballistic missiles while promising to strengthen bilateral ties.

According to the report, Shoigu presented Kim with a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin. In response, Putin thanked Kim for inviting a military delegation led by Shoigu, noting that the meeting had strengthened "strategic and traditional" ties between North Korea and Russia.

For the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, known in North Korea as "Victory Day," a delegation from Russia and one from China, which included Li Hongzhong, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, arrived this week.

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The groups arrive as Pyongyang seeks to strengthen its ties with Beijing and Moscow, finding common ground in their rivalries with Washington, and are the first such well-known public visitors to North Korea since the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to KCNA, Kim gave Shoigu a tour of a defence exhibition featuring recently developed weapons and military hardware that was being held to commemorate the war anniversary.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un spoke with Sergei Shoigu about the global trend of weapon development and its strategy.

Kim and his guests were seen in pictures published by KCNA touring a sizable exhibition hall that had some of the North's ballistic missiles on multi-axle transporter launchers. Another image displayed what experts believed to be a brand-new drone.

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Resolutions of the UN Security Council, supported in previous years by the council's permanent members, including Russia and China, prohibit North Korea from developing weapons that use ballistic missile technology.

In the fight to protect the sovereignty, development, and interests of the two countries from the haughty and arbitrary practises of the imperialists and to achieve international justice and peace, "(Kim) expressed his views on the issues of mutual concern," it said.

According to the report, "he frequently expressed confidence that the Russian army and people would succeed in their fight to establish a strong nation."

Although the conflict in Ukraine was not specifically mentioned by KCNA, Kang Sun Nam, North Korea's defence minister, said Pyongyang fully backed Russia's "battle for justice" and efforts to uphold its sovereignty, according to the report.

At a banquet in Pyongyang, Shoigu praised the North Korean military as the "most powerful" in the entire world, according to KCNA.

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The White House has claimed that North Korea has supported the Kremlin in its conflict with Ukraine and has shipped weapons, such as infantry rockets and missiles, in support of Russia's conflict.
North Korea disputes having bought weapons from Russia.

Separately, Kim welcomed Li Hongzhong of China, who gave Kim a letter from Xi Jinping, according to KCNA.