My Take | North Korea, China and Russia’s ‘blood-forged’ ties: real or rhetoric?
National interests historically prevail over the much-lauded friendships ‘forged in blood’ among the three countries
In a series of photographs, Kim, who appeared to be overcome with emotion, was seen by rows of half a dozen coffins in Pyongyang, covering them with flags.
The scene took place on Sunday amid the visit by a delegation led by Russia’s Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova to mark the first anniversary of the strategic partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Soldiers from the two countries were seen waving their national flags, a gesture described by the Korean Central News Agency as affirming the “ties of friendship and the genuine internationalist obligation between the peoples and armies of the two countries that were forged at the cost of blood”.