Defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin hosted a summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un in September, and there have been other exchanges.

The US and its allies have voiced concern that Kim could provide weapons and ammunition to Russia to help replace stocks used in its war in Ukraine, and South Korean lawmakers said Russia had helped Pyongyang launch a reconnaissance satellite a month ago.

“The course towards developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and India continues. Active, comprehensive cooperation has been established with the DPRK,” Gerasimov said in a year-end address, using an official abbreviation for North Korea.

He gave no further details.

The US has said Russia may be helping North Korea to evade Russian-backed United Nations sanctions prohibiting cooperation with Pyongyang, notably in ballistic missile programmes and aeronautical engineering.

The Kremlin said the allegation was “absolutely unfounded”.

As East-West tensions spiral over Russia’s war in Ukraine, which it calls a “special military operation”, Gerasimov said Moscow remained committed to trying to prevent incidents and maintained “lines of communication to respond to crisis situations”, a reference to military hotlines with Washington.