History of Korea
After the end of WWII in 1945, the Allies divided the country into a northern area (protected by the Soviets) and a southern area protected (primarily by the United States). In 1948, when the powers failed to agree on the formation of a single government, this partition became the modern states of North and South Korea. The peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel: the "Republic of Korea" was created in the south, with the backing of the US and Western Europe, and the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in the north, with the backing of the Soviets and the communist People's Republic of China. The new premier of North Korea, Kim il-Sung, launched the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country under Communist rule. After immense material and human destruction, the conflict ended with a cease-fire in 1953. The two nations officially remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed. In 1991, both states were accepted into the United Nations.
North Korea–Russia relations
Diplomatic relations between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK) and the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, the predecessor state to the Russian Federation) were first established on October 12, 1948 shortly after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed. During the Korean War, the Korean People's Army was supported by the Soviet military forces. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc, and received major Russian support. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, as the North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.