North Korea + Russia = Friends forever?

KYIV, Ukraine — With friends like Syria and Venezuela, Russia isn’t exactly known for palling around with the world’s straight-A students.

So it’s not a huge surprise that Moscow is becoming fast friends with North Korea, a leading international pariah known primarily for its warmongering and political oppression.

Russia’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that 2015 will mark a “Year of Friendship” between the two countries. The move is aimed at strengthening political, economic, and cultural ties, as well as facilitating official exchanges.

It comes just weeks after the Kremlin confirmed a May visit to Moscow by North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un to celebrate Victory Day, one of Russia’s most important holidays. The trip would be Kim’s first foreign visit since his rise to power in 2011.

But given Pyongyang’s reputation, embracing Kim and Co. might seem like a diplomatic risk for Vladimir Putin, whose government is already facing Western sanctions over Ukraine.

So what’s the point?

For starters, the Kremlin’s recent fallout with the West has only reinforced what analysts typically call Russia’s “Asia Pivot.” That means sidling up to major Asian powers — China in particular — in order to export energy, stimulate investment, and collect new allies in the Asia Pacific region amid a chaning global balance. (The US has been working on a “pivot to Asia,” as well, in case you’d missed that.)

In North Korea, Russia sees the country’s rickety railway system as a solid starting point. In exchange for investing some $25 billion in revamping around 1,800 miles of network over the next 20 years, Moscow would gain access to North Korea’s reportedly rich mineral deposits, which include uranium and iron ore.

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The Kim regime, meanwhile, would benefit from the steady influx of cash and an extra international partner, particularly as it tries to lessen its overwhelming dependence on China.

The Kremlin also rarely passes up an opportunity to needle the West — especially as it fends off allegations by officials that it’s stoking an armed insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

Some analysts say the new friendship may make life more difficult for the US, which would like to see Pyongyang ditch its nuclear program and its hyperbolic threats.

“Greater Russian interest in North Korea will hinder Washington’s efforts to force North Korea to relent,” Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote last week.

Others believe Moscow will use its presence on the UN Security Council to bat down attempts to punish Pyongyang over its miserable rights record.

If nothing else, though, Pyongyang is hoping the Year of Friendship will boost Russian tourism to the hermit kingdom. Last year, only 200 Russians visited.