Foreign ministers condemn North Korea's missile transfer to Russia

Parts of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe was made in North Korea and used in a strike in Kharkiv earlier this week, on Jan. 6 [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, Japan and 45 other countries condemned North Korea’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia and their use in the latter's ongoing aggression against Ukraine in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on Dec. 30, 2023, and Jan. 2, 2024,” reads the statement released by the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.

The transfer of these weapons not only “increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people” but also “provides valuable technical and military insights” in turn to North Korea, it said.

Stressing that the arms trade flagrantly violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions, the foreign ministers said they were “closely monitoring what Russia provides to the DPRK in return” for the weapons exports.

“We are deeply concerned about the security implications that this cooperation has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world,” they said in the statement.

Joint signees to the statement included the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Israel, Britain, Canada, Poland, Australia, Lithuania, Argentina and the European Union.

Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied that arms shipments have taken place, but South Korean and U.S. officials have cited satellite reconnaissance of Rajin port in North Korea, which shows a significant number of containers being loaded onto Russia-bound ships, as circumstantial evidence of weapons being delivered to Russia.

The White House announced earlier this month that Russia had used short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) provided by North Korea in attacks against Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications John Kirby said the North Korean missiles had a range of approximately 900 kilometers (560 miles).

The U.S. believes the North is supplying arms in return for military technology from Russia, including fighter aircraft and armored vehicles.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]