SEOUL, March 31 — North Korea’s state news agency and Russian counterpart TASS have agreed to counter jointly what they call “disinformation” delivered by their “many enemies”, the outlets reported today, in a further deepening of ties.

Western governments have long accused Russia of spreading false information online as well as in traditional media, and both countries rank near the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

North Korea has also sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine as well as munitions, with Moscow providing financial aid, military technology, food and energy to the isolated nuclear-armed nation in return.

“The courage and willingness for self-sacrifice that both soldiers and officers of the Korean People’s Army demonstrate today are already inscribed in modern history,” TASS quoted its director general Andrey Kondrashov as saying in Pyongyang.

“Everyone understands that today we are fighting modern Nazism together,” Kondrashov said.

The English-language report cited him as adding, without direct quotes, that “many enemies do not like this, and this is why information campaigns had been launched against Russia and North Korea to spread fakes.”

The agencies’ updated cooperation agreement signed on March 28 covers “joint counteraction to disinformation on both a bilateral and multilateral basis,” TASS added.

“The agreement... is based not only on long-term friendship, but also takes into account the completely new realities of today’s information war that is taking place on our planet,” Kondrashov said.

North Korea’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui welcomed Kondrashov and his delegation, KCNA reported on Tuesday. On Sunday it said that the deal covered “exchanges of news articles” and “cooperation”, without giving details.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked North Korea second last in its 2025 press freedom index — Russia was 171 out of 180 — saying the “regime strictly prohibits independent journalism.”

South Korea estimates that around 2,000 North Korean troops, thought primarily to have been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region — where Ukraine launched an incursion in 2024 — have been killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last visited North Korea in 2024, while Kim Jong Un’s most recent trip to Russia is thought to have been the year earlier.

Improved ties have also allowed North Korea to lessen its reliance on its traditional main backer China, analysts say. — AFP