Russia's Putin offers disaster aid to North Korea to help cope with flood damage

SEOUL, South Korea -- Russian President Vladimir Putin offered humanitarian assistance to help North Korea cope with damages from recent floods, both countries said, in another sign of expanding relations between the two nations.

In a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, Putin "extended deep sympathy and support” and conveyed his willingness to provide immediate disaster aid to help North Korea recover from the floods, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.

Russia’s state news agency Tass carried a similar report, saying that Putin told Kim in the message: “You can always count on our assistance and support.”

Ties between North Korea and Russia have been improving significantly amid widespread outside beliefs that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, Kim and Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries' biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.

Kim expressed his gratitude to Putin over the offer for aid, saying he “could deeply feel the special emotion towards a genuine friend in the most difficult period.” But Kim said North Korea has established its own rehabilitation plans and will ask for Russian assistance later if it is needed, according to KCNA.

Heavy rains on North Korea’s northwestern region on July 27 flooded 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of agricultural fields and numerous other public buildings, roads and railways, according to KCNA. The scale of casualties isn’t known. KCNA recently quoted Kim as saying the flood caused a “casualty that cannot be allowed” but didn’t elaborate.

On Thursday, rival South Korea also offered humanitarian support to North Korea. Observers say North Korea will likely ignore or turn down the South Korean proposal, as animosities between the two countries are at one of their highest points in years.

During a Friday visit to a military unit involved in operations to evacuate residents stranded by the floods, Kim called South Korea “scum” as he lambasted what he called “rubbish” South Korean media for allegedly tarnishing the North’s image by exaggerating the death tolls from the floods. Kim didn't mention South Korea's offer to provide aid.