Preliminary
On the 7th of October, Putin's birthday, 73 years old, no big drums celebration, no international friend circle screenshots, the world's leaders almostined "collective silence", only one, sent a "specially customized" birthday greeting, he is North Korea's highest leader Kim Jong-un.
Moreover, this congratulatory message came with an extremely rare and weighty title: "My closest comrade Vladimir Putin." In this era when "comrades" are almost extinct in the international political context, Kim Jong-un's greeting is clearly not an ordinary blessing, but a resounding political signal.
A congratulatory message full of "common destiny"
In Kim Jong-un’s letter, “Comrades” is not just a cold word, but an expression of a position, and the whole letter reinforces a theme from the beginning to the end: North Korea and Russia, not just friends, are a community of destiny.
Kim first praised Putin, saying his “wise leadership” has made Russia a “glorious” world power, and also praised him for his achievements in building a country. these words are not unusual in diplomatic context, but the next content is the focus.
He made it clear that the "alliance" between the DPRK and Russia has entered its "heyday", and this relationship is maintained not by documents, but by "cordial friendship" and "close comrade relationship". In other words, it is not superficial articles, but brotherly feelings.
More directly, Kim Jong-un reiterated the stance at the Beijing meeting in September, saying that North Korea “fullly supports the Russian people’s just struggle to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests” and raised this support to the height of “brotherly duty.”
The end of the phrase, “Pyeongchang and Moscow are forever together, and our friendship is eternal,” sounds like an oath written on a monument. For Putin, this message is not just a birthday greeting, but rather a “struggle-side agreement” from a warrior.
The rhythm behind "comrades": Russia and North Korea are accelerating their binding
The term "comrades" has rarely been heard in international occasions, but between the Russian Dynasty, it is more and more frequent, as early as in September 2023, when Kim Jong Un visited Russia, the leaders of the two countries began to call each other "comrades", and in June 2024 the two countries signed the "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty", the name also further escalated to "the most intimate comrades".
This birthday letter again uses this nickname, indicating that Russian-Russian relations are continuing to advance along the direction established by the treaty, and even there is a trend of acceleration, and when you look back on the pace of interaction over the past year, you know that the relationship between the two countries has not only been warm, but also done a lot of things.
In the first half of 2025, Putin's friendship and Secretary of the Security Conference of the Russian Federation Shoigu visited North Korea three times, and the first meeting in June achieved three results: North Korea sent 6,000 workers and engineers to Russia, the total number of Russian aid broke 20,000; the two countries set up monuments in each other's territory; and resumed direct flights from Moscow to Pyongyang.
Entering the second half of the year, heads of state diplomacy began to heat up. During a phone call in August and a meeting in Beijing in September, Kim Jong-un even got in Putin's special car; just after delivering congratulatory messages in October, Putin sent his "old comrade" Medvedev to represent Russia in the military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers 'Party of Korea. This rhythm does not seem like an "ordinary friend".
Especially on Putin's birthday, other countries basically chose to "not express their position", but Kim Jong-un sent a high-profile "congratulatory message from comrades". This "uniqueness" itself is already an attitude.
A "birthday politics" reflects not blessings, but layout
Kim Jong-un’s message, in fact, is more like a diplomatic operation, a public strategic declaration, and for North Korea, this gesture of “full support” to Russia is an exchange of political security and real interests.
North Korea needs more endorsement from Russia at the international level, especially on key occasions such as the United Nations; At the same time, we also hope to obtain practical economic assistance and military technical cooperation from Russia. Behind this "brotherhood" lies practical needs.
For Russia, North Korea's support is not unnecessary, and in the context of the delay in the war in Ukraine and the continuation of EU-US sanctions, Russia urgently needs a partner that can strategically contain the West in East Asia, while North Korea is clearly willing to cooperate with one, not only willing to express, but also willing to send more than 20,000 Russian troops, although they are not front-line operational forces, but can play an important role in post-war reconstruction and logistical support.
Looking at the "just and multi-polar world order" that is constantly emphasized in the message, it is not a slogan, but the biggest political consensus between the two countries at present, in other words, they do not want to be held by the US-dominated monopolistic world.
North Korea wants to get rid of isolation, Russia wants to break through containment, and "multipolarization" has become a common banner. Kim Jong-un's congratulatory message is actually clearly telling the world that we stand together, not a temporary partnership, but a long-term plan.
No birthday applause, but rather explanation.
Putin’s birthday has always received a bunch of congratulations from all over the world, although some may be just diplomatic greetings, but at least in the scene it has been said that since the outbreak of the Russian conflict, this blessing has been getting less and less.
According to statistics, the number of Putin's birthday messages has dropped to single digits in recent years, and most of them come from regional entities such as Germany and South Ossetia, which are almost only recognized by Russia. Real national-level blessings, except Kim Jong-un, are hardly available.
What does that mean? Putin's "social circle" on the international stage is getting smaller and smaller, and Kim Jong-un's congratulatory message not only came, but also specially used the name "comrade", which clearly announced to the outside world that we are not only still in touch, but also closer than before.
What is more interesting is that just a few days after the congratulatory message was sent, Medvedev came to the North Korean platform on behalf of Russia. This rhythm of "courtesy in return" shows that this is not a one-way expression, but a two-way confirmation.
Many people may wonder: is North Korea so close to Russia, will it not be further isolated by the West? but from the perspective of North Korea, has been isolated for so many years, where can it be more isolated? on the contrary, it is Russia, may be in need of a “not afraid of isolation” “hard nuclear ally”, so this “no applause” birthday, instead, more realistically exposes today’s international pattern changes.
conclusion
Kim Jong-un’s message is not a simple blessing, but a declaration of Russian-Russian relations into the “Allied Age.” A “comrade” Kim Jong-un calling Putin is defining the international team of the new era in his own way. The future of Northeast Asia will be more complex because of this message and more worthy of our continued attention.
References:
Putin celebrates Kim Jong-un’s 73th birthday
October 07, 2025, China News Network
Kim Jong Un sends congratulatory message to wish Putin a happy birthday
2025-10-07 Check out the news