Photo : YONHAP News
The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about deepening Pyongyang-Moscow military ties after Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a visit to the regime.
Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday in a press briefing that Washington continues to be “incredibly concerned” by the expanding security relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang.
He made the remarks when asked to comment on Shoigu’s recent visit to the North and the extension of cooperation between the two nations.
The spokesperson said that America is concerned both for the support that North Korea continues to provide to Russia to continue its illegal war against Ukraine, and for the prospect of Russia assisting North Korea in ways that ultimately will be destabilizing the Korean Peninsula.
Shoigu met with the North Korean leader and discussed bilateral cooperation last Friday, the first anniversary of Kim’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked about Sweden’s recent resumption of diplomatic operations in North Korea, Miller said that the U.S. supports the return of foreign diplomats to Pyongyang and hopes that it will reinvigorate dialogue, diplomacy and other forms of constructive engagements with the North.
He added that the U.S. also hopes that North Korea will open its border to international humanitarian workers.