Seoul: North Korea said it has agreed to further strategic and tactical co-operation with Russia to establish a “new multi-polarised international order”, as the two countries work to build a united front in the face of their separate, intensifying tensions with the United States.
In describing North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last week, the North’s Foreign Ministry said Putin also reaffirmed his willingness to visit Pyongyang and said that could come at an “early date”.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands in Russia last September.Credit: AP
North Korea has been actively strengthening its ties with Russia, highlighted by leader Kim Jong-un’s September visit to Russia for a summit with Putin. Kim is trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his footing as he navigates a deepening nuclear standoff with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
In a separate statement, also on Sunday, the North’s Foreign Ministry condemned the UN Security Council for calling an emergency meeting over the country’s latest ballistic test, which state media described as a new intermediate-range solid-fuel missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead. The ministry said the test firing on January 14 was among the country’s regular activities to improve its defence capabilities and that it didn’t pose a threat to its neighbours.
South Korea last week urged the Security Council “to break the silence” over North Korea’s escalating missile tests and threats. Russia and China, both permanent members of the council, have blocked US-led efforts to increase sanctions on North Korea over its recent weapons tests, underscoring a divide deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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The alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow has raised international concerns about alleged arms co-operation, in which the North provides Russia with munitions to help prolong its fighting in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for badly needed economic aid and military assistance to help upgrade Kim’s forces. Both Pyongyang and Russia have denied accusations by Washington and Seoul about North Korean arms transfers to Russia.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, in comments published by state media, said Choe and the Russian officials in their meetings expressed a “strong will to further strengthen strategic and tactical cooperation in defending the core interests of the two countries and establishing a new multi-polarised international order”.
Russia expressed “deep thanks” to North Korea for its “full support” over its war on Ukraine, the North Korean ministry said. It said Choe and the Russian officials expressed “serious concern” over the United States’ expanding military co-operation with its Asian allies that they blamed for worsening tensions in the region and threatening North Korea’s sovereignty and security interests.
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