Korea summons Russian ambassador over 'ignorant remarks'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a press briefing in this file photo. [TASS/YONHAP]

The Foreign Ministry in Seoul summoned the Russian ambassador on Saturday to protest recent comments made by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson about President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“It was very regrettable that Russia ignored the facts and unconditionally protected North Korea while criticizing the president’s remarks in extremely disrespectful language,” said the South Korean Foreign Ministry in a statement after Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Chung Byung-won summoned Russian Ambassador to Korea Georgy Zinoviev on Saturday.

It was referring to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comments made about President Yoon earlier in the week.

In response to a question in a press conference on Thursday, Zakharova said Yoon’s recent statement about the North “blatantly biased” and “designed to obscure aggressive plans as regards the DPRK,” referring to the North by the acronym of its full name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“They look particularly odious against the backdrop of what is happening on the Korean Peninsula and the surrounding situation,” she said, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. “The degree of tension and conflict is continuously growing there, primarily due to the brazen policy of the United States and its allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan.”

Zakharova was referring to Yoon’s statement made in a committee meeting at the Blue House on Jan. 31, in which he said North Korean regime was the “only irrational group in the world that has legislated the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.”

The Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Zakharova’s comments were “rude, ignorant, biased and below the standard of remarks expected of spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a country.”

It said that her remarks ignored the “clear and objective reality” that North Korea's threatening rhetoric and continuous armed provocations were heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

In a stronger statement issued yet from the Foreign Ministry on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ministry also appeared to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements about the invasion.

“The fact that the Russian leader refers to the invasion of Ukraine, which is a clear violation of international law, as a special military operation is nothing more than an unreasonable attempt to mislead the international community,” said the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.

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