South Korea on Thursday expressed “deep concern and regret” over a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin that appears to be focused on expanding military cooperation as the two nuclear-armed reclusive leaders tune in to their escalating confrontation with the United States.
Washington has warned that Wednesday’s summit between Kim and Putin could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
There is widespread concern in Seoul that the North will in return receive advanced weapons technology from Russia, including those related to military spy satellites, which will increase the threat posed by Kim’s military nuclear program.
“We express our deep concern and regret that despite repeated warnings from the international community, North Korea and Russia discussed military cooperation issues, including satellite development, during their summit,” said Lim Soo-suk, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The summit could advance an agreement between Kim and Putin to supply ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. AP
“Any science and technology cooperation that contributes to the development of nuclear weapons and missiles, including satellite systems involving ballistic missile technology, is against the UN Security Council resolution,” he said in a briefing.
Lim also pointed out that Kim’s delegation in Russia included several individuals cleared by the Security Council of involvement in North Korea’s illegal weapons development activities, including Korean People’s Army Marshal Ri Pyong Chol and Jo Chun Yong, a ruling party official who handles missile policy.
Lim said Moscow should be aware that there would be a “very negative impact” on its relations with Seoul if it continued military cooperation with Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the town of Tsiolkovsky in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, on September 13, 2023. AP
Seoul’s Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, who handles affairs with North Korea, warned that a potential arms transfer between Pyongyang and Moscow would only invite a stronger response from South Korea, the US and Japan, which have stepped up their trilateral security cooperation. to face regional threats.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday that North Korea would face consequences if it supplied weapons to Russia.
“No country on the planet, no one, should help Mr. Putin kill innocent Ukrainians,” Kirby said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands before their talks at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, on Sept. 13, 2023. AP
If the country decides to move forward with the arms deal, the US will take the arrangement into account and “deal with it accordingly,” he said.
He said that any deal that would increase North Korea’s military capabilities “would certainly be an important concern for us.”
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Kim invited Putin during their meeting to visit North Korea at “an appropriate time” and that Putin accepted with “joy and reaffirmed his desire to always continue” the history of friendship between the countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, fourth right, toast after their talks at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the town of Tsiolkovsky on September 13, 2023.AP
Putin told Russian state TV after the summit that Kim will visit two more cities in the Russian Far East himself, fly to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft factory, and then go to Vladivostok to see the Russian Pacific Fleet, universities and other facilities.
During their meeting on Wednesday at a Russian spaceport in the Far East, Kim pledged “full and unconditional support” for Putin in what he described as “only fighting against hegemonic powers to defend his sovereign rights, security and interests,” in an apparent reference to . to the war in Ukraine.
The decision to meet at the Vostochny Cosmodrome suggests that Kim is seeking Russian help in developing military reconnaissance satellites.
He has previously said it is important to step up its nuclear-capable missile threat, and North Korea has repeatedly failed to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.
The aircraft factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur would be another location that might hint at what Kim is trying to get from Russia in exchange for helping fuel Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Some analysts question whether Russia, which has always guarded its sensitive weapons technology, would be willing to share it with North Korea in exchange for what could end up being a limited supply of ammunition moving slowly through their small land network.
A TV show broadcasts a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 14, 2023. AP
They say military cooperation between the countries may be more about conventional capabilities, such as Russia possibly helping North Korea improve its aging air force that still relies on fighter jets sent by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Putin told reporters that Russia and North Korea have “many interesting projects” in areas such as transport and agriculture and that Moscow provides humanitarian aid to its neighbour.
But he avoided talking about military cooperation, saying only that Russia abides by sanctions that prohibit obtaining weapons from Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen filming his visit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur region on September 13, 2023. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
Wednesday’s meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, extending its most provocative tests since 2022, as Kim used the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine to speed up his weapons development.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
