N. Korea slams US for boosting alleged arms supply to Russia
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday accused the United States of cooking up a “plot-breeding story” on its alleged arms transfer to Russia, arguing it has by no means sent artillery shells to Moscow.
Past week, National Safety Council spokesperson John Kirby accused North Korea of covertly supplying a “significant number” of the ammunitions to Russia. He said the United States believes North Korea was attempting to obscure the transfer route by producing it seem the weapons have been being sent to international locations in the Center East or North Africa.
“We regard this sort of moves of the U.S. as element of its hostile endeavor to tarnish the graphic of (North Korea) in the intercontinental arena,” an unknown vice director at the ministry’s military overseas affairs workplace mentioned in a assertion carried by condition media.
“We when again make distinct that we have by no means had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia and that we have no plan to do so in the future,” the vice director claimed.
In September, U.S. officials verified a freshly downgraded U.S. intelligence discovering that Russia was in the method of acquiring hundreds of thousands of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. North Korea afterwards dismissed that report, contacting on Washington to end earning “reckless remarks” and to “keep its mouth shut.”
On Nov. 2, Kirby explained the U.S. has “an idea” of which nation or countries the North may possibly funnel the weapons via but would not specify. He mentioned the North Korean shipments are “not heading to modify the program of the war,” citing Western initiatives to resupply the Ukrainian armed forces.
Slapped by international sanctions and export controls, Russia in August bought Iranian-manufactured drones that U.S. officials stated experienced complex challenges. For Russia, industry experts say North Korea is likely a further very good possibility for its ammunitions source, since the North retains a considerable stockpile of shells, lots of of them copies of Soviet-period kinds.
Even as most of Europe and the West has pulled away, North Korea has pushed to boost relations with Russia, blaming the U.S. for the crisis and decrying the West’s “hegemonic policy” as justifying navy motion by Russia in Ukraine to shield by itself. In July, North Korea grew to become the only nation apart from Russia and Syria to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk territories as independent.
The North Korean government has also hinted it is intrigued in sending development workers to aid rebuild professional-Russia breakaway areas in Ukraine’s east.
North Korea’s possible arms offer to Russia would be a violation of U.N. resolutions that ban the North from buying and selling weapons with other nations. But it’s not likely for North Korea to obtain refreshing sanctions for that since of a division at the U.N. Stability Council more than America’s confrontations with Russia relating to its war in Ukraine and its individual strategic competitions with China.
Earlier this calendar year, Russia and China now vetoed a U.S.-led try to toughen sanctions on North Korea over its collection of ballistic missile tests that are banned by many U.N. Safety Council resolutions.
Some observers say North Korea has also been applying the Russian aggression in Ukraine as a window to ramp up weapons screening exercise and dial up pressure on the United States and South Korea. Last week, the North examination-fired dozens of missiles in reaction to significant-scale U.S.-South Korea aerial drills that Pyongyang sights as a rehearsal for a probable invasion.
In a different assertion revealed Tuesday by state media, a senior North Korean diplomat criticized U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest condemnation of North Korea’s missile start barrage, contacting him a “mouthpiece” of the U.S. federal government.
“The U.N. secretary common is echoing what the White Residence and the Point out Division say as if he have been their mouthpiece, which is deplorable,” reported Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international businesses at the North Korean Overseas Ministry.
Kim stated that Guterres’ “unfair and prejudiced behavior” has contributed to the worsening tensions in the area.
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Abide by AP’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific area at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Tuesday accused the United States of cooking up a “plot-breeding story” on its alleged arms transfer to Russia, arguing it has by no means sent artillery shells to Moscow.
Past week, National Safety Council spokesperson John Kirby accused North Korea of covertly supplying a “significant number” of the ammunitions to Russia. He said the United States believes North Korea was attempting to obscure the transfer route by producing it seem the weapons have been being sent to international locations in the Center East or North Africa.
“We regard this sort of moves of the U.S. as element of its hostile endeavor to tarnish the graphic of (North Korea) in the intercontinental arena,” an unknown vice director at the ministry’s military overseas affairs workplace mentioned in a assertion carried by condition media.
“We when again make distinct that we have by no means had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia and that we have no plan to do so in the future,” the vice director claimed.
In September, U.S. officials verified a freshly downgraded U.S. intelligence discovering that Russia was in the method of acquiring hundreds of thousands of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. North Korea afterwards dismissed that report, contacting on Washington to end earning “reckless remarks” and to “keep its mouth shut.”
On Nov. 2, Kirby explained the U.S. has “an idea” of which nation or countries the North may possibly funnel the weapons via but would not specify. He mentioned the North Korean shipments are “not heading to modify the program of the war,” citing Western initiatives to resupply the Ukrainian armed forces.
Slapped by international sanctions and export controls, Russia in August bought Iranian-manufactured drones that U.S. officials stated experienced complex challenges. For Russia, industry experts say North Korea is likely a further very good possibility for its ammunitions source, since the North retains a considerable stockpile of shells, lots of of them copies of Soviet-period kinds.
Even as most of Europe and the West has pulled away, North Korea has pushed to boost relations with Russia, blaming the U.S. for the crisis and decrying the West’s “hegemonic policy” as justifying navy motion by Russia in Ukraine to shield by itself. In July, North Korea grew to become the only nation apart from Russia and Syria to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk territories as independent.
The North Korean government has also hinted it is intrigued in sending development workers to aid rebuild professional-Russia breakaway areas in Ukraine’s east.
North Korea’s possible arms offer to Russia would be a violation of U.N. resolutions that ban the North from buying and selling weapons with other nations. But it’s not likely for North Korea to obtain refreshing sanctions for that since of a division at the U.N. Stability Council more than America’s confrontations with Russia relating to its war in Ukraine and its individual strategic competitions with China.
Earlier this calendar year, Russia and China now vetoed a U.S.-led try to toughen sanctions on North Korea over its collection of ballistic missile tests that are banned by many U.N. Safety Council resolutions.
Some observers say North Korea has also been applying the Russian aggression in Ukraine as a window to ramp up weapons screening exercise and dial up pressure on the United States and South Korea. Last week, the North examination-fired dozens of missiles in reaction to significant-scale U.S.-South Korea aerial drills that Pyongyang sights as a rehearsal for a probable invasion.
In a different assertion revealed Tuesday by state media, a senior North Korean diplomat criticized U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest condemnation of North Korea’s missile start barrage, contacting him a “mouthpiece” of the U.S. federal government.
“The U.N. secretary common is echoing what the White Residence and the Point out Division say as if he have been their mouthpiece, which is deplorable,” reported Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international businesses at the North Korean Overseas Ministry.
Kim stated that Guterres’ “unfair and prejudiced behavior” has contributed to the worsening tensions in the area.
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Abide by AP’s coverage of the Asia-Pacific area at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific