Photo : YONHAP News
The permanent mission of North Korea to the United Nations has denied media reports and statements by the South Korean government alleging that North Korea is sending troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, calling them “groundless rumors.”
An official at the North Korean mission denied the North’s troop dispatch on Monday during a session of the UN General Assembly First Committee also known as the Disarmament and International Security Committee.
During the session at the UN headquarters in New York, the North Korean official said that regarding the so-called “military cooperation” between North Korea and Russia, the North Korean mission does not feel the need to address these “groundless and obvious rumors” aimed at damaging the legitimate and friendly cooperation between sovereign states and tarnishing the North’s national image.
It marks the first response by North Korean authorities regarding the North’s alleged troop dispatch.
The official added that the so-called arms transfers between sovereign states do not fit with the topic of discussion, which is disarmament and international security.
The remarks came in response to a statement by a representative of Ukraine that North Korea is trading arms with Russia and is expected to send large troops to Russia soon.