A previous meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Putin
(Picture: AP)Vladimir Putin has vowed to "expand comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations" with North Korea.
The Russian president wrote to counterpart Kim Jong-Un to mark the secretive state’s liberation day on Monday.
Mr Kim responded to the letter to welcome a renewed bond in their "comradely friendship", which began after the surrender of Japan in the second world war.
North Korean state media outlet KCNA reported that Mr Putin said the special relationship would "conform with the interests of the two countries".
Having once been close allies, the relationship soured between the two nations into the 1990s with the collapse of the iron curtain.
However, relations have picked up under Mr Putin’s more autocratic regime - and particularly since Mr Kim succeeded his father in 2011. The current North Korean leader is one of only a handful of world leaders to recognise Russian-backed separatist states in eastern Ukraine.
This includes Donetsk where, also on Monday, puppet leaders of the state signalled their intention to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia. Ukraine has long-since broken off diplomatic relations with North Korea.
Mr Kim’s letter hailed "strategic and tactical co-operation, support and solidarity" between the two countries against “hostile nations”.
While he did not name the hostile nations, it is thought he was referring to Nato allies and in particular the US.
