SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea, the U.S. and Japan strongly condemned what they call North Korea’s supply of munitions and military equipment to Russia, saying Thursday that such weapons shipments sharply increase the human toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A joint statement by the top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan came days after Russia’s foreign minister scoffed at a recent U.S. claim that his country received munitions from North Korea, saying that Washington has failed to prove the allegation.
“We will continue to work together with the international community to expose Russia’s attempts to acquire military equipment from (North Korea),” said the joint statement by South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
“Such weapons deliveries, several of which we now confirm have been completed, will significantly increase the human toll of Russia’s war of aggression,” it said.
North Korea and Russia — both locked in separate confrontations with the U.S. and its allies — have recently taken steps to strengthen their defense and other ties. Speculation about North Korea’s provision of conventional arms to refill Russia’s exhausted weapons stores flared last month, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia’s Far East to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military facilities.
The U.S., South Korea and others believe North Korea seeks to receive sophisticated weapons technologies to enhance its nuclear program in exchange for its munitions supply.
During his visit to Pyongyang last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a reception speech that Russia valued North Korea’s “unwavering” support for its war on Ukraine. He also proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to cope with what he described as increasing U.S.-led regional military threats. After returning to Moscow, Lavrov shrugged off the U.S. accusation of the North Korean arms transfers, saying that “the Americans keep accusing everyone.”