Russia Announces Five-Year Defense Cooperation Plan with North Korea for 2027-2031

China may be feeling uneasy about talk of a rare five-year defence cooperation plan between North Korea and Russia that could accelerate Pyongyang's military modernisation on multiple fronts, analysts said. Belousov also said preparations were under way for a five-year military cooperation plan, according to Tass. "We have reached an agreement with the DPRK's [Democratic People's Republic of Korea's] defence ministry to place our military cooperation on a sustainable long-term footing," Belousov reportedly said, referring to North Korea. "We are prepared to sign a Russian-Korean military cooperation plan for the 2027-2031 period this year." The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency did not report on the discussion about the five-year plan, instead saying Kim and Belousov had discussed a "series of issues" to further consolidate and "level up strengthening and developing political and military cooperation and collaboration" between Pyongyang and Moscow.