According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday (23), ‘serious concern’ over discussions of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including possible arms trade has been expressed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean, Japanese counterparts.
An agreement was made in a brief meeting on Friday (22) by Blinken, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to firmly respond to any acts that threaten regional security in violation of U.N. Security Council resolution.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un discussed military cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a weeklong visit to Russia last week.
Concern has been expressed by U.S. and South Korean officials regarding the fact that the summit was aimed to allow Russia to receive ammunition from the North to supplement its dying supply for war against Ukraine.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that it would be a “a direct provocation” if Russia helped North Korea upgrade their weapons programs in exchange for aid with war, an agreement that Seoul and its allies would not stand idly by.
Source: Reuters
