Russian President Vladimir Putin made a short but historic visit to North Korea this week.
Although the two countries have become much closer partners in recent months, few observers expected the trip to produce a “strategic partnership treaty” akin to an alliance with real security guarantees.
The new relationship is more the product of opprobrium than opportunity. Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both international pariahs, struggling to find ways to support their increasingly isolated countries. The appropriate response to this step is an active campaign to denounce their efforts to undermine international law and international institutions and to strengthen cooperation between Japan, the United States, South Korea and Europe.
