Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Thursday expressed his “deep” concerns about military cooperation and a possible arms deal between North Korea and Russia, as the leaders of the two isolated countries held a rare summit this week.
Kim addressed reporters a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit at the Vostochny space center in eastern Russia on Wednesday in their first meeting in more than four years.
The minister said Pyongyang and Moscow have apparently continued to be pushing for military transactions, citing Kim’s visit to munitions factories and Putin’s hint at supporting North Korea’s satellite technology.
“We need to additionally grasp detailed results of the Kim-Putin summit, but we are deeply concerned about military cooperation and arms transactions between the two nations,” Kim said.
“We once again called on North Korea and Russia to stop illegal and reckless acts that only deepen their own isolation, and abide by international norms, including the U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he added.
Kim and Putin probably discussed how to deepen military cooperation, as Russia apparently needs North Korea’s supplies of artillery shells and ammunition for its war with Ukraine, while the North wants high-tech weapons technology from Russia.
“Ultimately, as North Korea adheres to nuclear development, it will only be confronted by a more powerful response from South Korea, the United States and Japan,” he said.
Kim extended his criticism of North Korea by noting how the recalcitrant regime is sacrificing the livelihoods of its people to develop its nuclear and missile programs “at all costs.”
Against this backdrop, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving the North’s human rights issue.
“We should now take the lead to improve North Korea’s human rights,” Kim said, stressing that all inter-Korean exchanges and humanitarian support for the North should also be carried out in a way that benefits the North Korean people.
“We will not pursue inter-Korean relations for short-term accomplishments or for the sake of merely looking good. We will establish a relationship and a system of exchanges and cooperation based on law and principle.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency