Photo : YONHAP News
The two Koreas engaged in a war of words at the United Nations amid an escalating international security crisis over intelligence reports of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia in support of its military offensive in Ukraine.
At a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on Thursday, the North’s permanent mission to the UN again denied the North is supplying arms to Russia and dismissed what it called “groundless rumors” to the contrary.
[Sound bite: Rim Mu-song, a senior official from the North’s foreign ministry]
“My delegation totally rejects the allegations of the delegations of United Kingdom, Ukraine and ROK on the so-called arms transfer between DPRK and Russian Federation. The assertion of those member states is nothing more than groundless rumors aimed at tarnishing the image of DPRK and undermining the legitimate, friendly and cooperative relations between sovereign states in accordance with the UN Charter.”
[Sound bite: Kim Sung-hoon, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations]
“One can not hide the obvious things, there are ample evidences. Debris of a missile that landed in Ukraine has clear Korean letter markings. There are video clips online in which North Korean soldiers are dressed up in Russian uniforms and speak Korean. Even this morning, Russian President Putin did not clearly deny reports of a presence of North Korean troops in Russia.”
A senior official from the North’s foreign ministry said the reports are based on groundless rumors and further noted that Pyongyang’s strategic partnership with Moscow does not affect any other country whereas that of South Korea and its allies does.
The South’s permanent mission on the other hand, denounced North’s claims, noting that the cooperation between the North and Russia violates the UN charter and other international laws and urged both countries to immediately stop violating their international obligations.