The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.
Photo: EPA, Korean Central News Agency
Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in conformity with the level of alliance,” Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited him as saying.
Lavrov called for the two countries to further bolster their “strategic and tactical cooperation and intensify concerted action” in international affairs, KCNA reported.
Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.
That has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might also transfer sensitive technologies to North Korea that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs.
Speaking with reporters after a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called military build-ups around North Korea.
“We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,” Tass news agency cited him as saying.
The US, South Korea and Japan have expanded or restored their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. The three countries held a joint air drill on Friday involving US nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula as their top military officers met in Seoul, and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities threatening regional security.
North Korea views major US-led military drills as invasion rehearsals and has long said it is forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from US military threats.
Russia understands North Korea’s decision to seek nuclear weapons, Lavrov said.
“The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing nuclear development,” Lavrov said, according to Tass.
During their meeting, Choe reiterated North Korea “unconditionally” supports Russia’s fight against Ukraine, as Lavrov repeated Russia’s gratitude for the contribution North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.
North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort in Wonsan city, the meeting venue, that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people.
In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said: “I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of Kim’s push to boost tourism to improve his country’s troubled economy. However, prospects for the tourist complex are not clear, as North Korea appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.
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