Kim Jong Un’s Country is only the third nation to recognize these “breakaway people’s republics”, after Russia itself and Syria.
Donetsk and Luhansk, now known in Russia as the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), have been a point of contention during the invasion.
DPR leader Denis Pushilin announced on his Telegram channel that he hoped for “fruitful cooperation” and increased trade with the isolated nation, Reuters reported.
A photo also posted to Telegram showed a ceremony where North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol presented a certificate of recognition to DPR envoy Olga Makeyeva.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has sent letters to each area declaring that their country recognizes the independence of these regions.
The Korean Central News Agency, the state news agency of the north, said: “In the letters, she expressed the will to develop state-to-state relations with those countries in the idea of independence, peace and friendship.”
Ukraine has now severed relations with the East Asian country over the move.
Some residents of Donetsk have expressed their joy at being recognized as independent by another nation.
A woman known as Olga said: “Of course I am happy. Let more recognize us so everyone knows we are here.”
In 2014, North Korea also supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Since the Russian invasion on February 24, Kiev’s troops have managed to push Putin out of the capital, but he now has a foothold in the east.
According to senior research fellow for Airpower and Technology at the Royal United Services Institute Justin Bronk, it has now become a “battle of attrition”.