North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly met with the Russian vice defense minister, who visited Pyongyang leading a Russian delegation. 

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Friday that Kim met with a Russian military delegation headed by Aleksey Krivoruchko the previous day. 

The KCNA said that Kim and Krivoruchko discussed the importance and the need for military cooperation between the two countries to defend mutual security interests.

Vowing the North’s strong support and solidarity for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Kim called on militaries of North Korea and Russia to unite more firmly to defend world peace and justice. 

Krivoruchko is the first Russian military official to visit North Korea since Kim held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang last month.