Russian deputy foreign minister visits Seoul amid war of words

Diplomacy

Published: 04 Feb. 2024, 18:48 Updated: 04 Feb. 2024, 18:59

Russian deputy foreign minister visits Seoul amid war of words

Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Rudenko during a meeting at the Reception House of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this file photo. [TASS/YONHAP]

South Korea expressed its disapproval of Moscow and Pyongyang's growing military cooperation as the Russian deputy foreign minister visited Seoul for talks on regional security.

Korea summons Russian ambassador over 'ignorant remarks'

According to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Sunday, Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won met with Andrey Rudenko, the Russian deputy foreign minister overseeing the Asia-Pacific region, on Friday to address the war in Ukraine and international affairs.

During the meeting, Chung urged Moscow to behave responsibly and cooperate in preventing infringements on the rights of Korean citizens and businesses in Russia.

During the visit, Rudenko also met and talked with South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, Kim Gunn.

Kim asked Russia to strictly comply with its obligations to the United Nations Security Council resolutions, including immediately halting military cooperation with North Korea that threatens the security of the Korean Peninsula and Europe.

The Foreign Ministry added that the two nations agreed that continuous communications between Seoul and Moscow regarding the North Korean nuclear issue benefit both of them.

Rudenko’s visit to Seoul came after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova referred to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent remarks on North Korea as “blatantly biased” and “designed to obscure aggressive plans as regards the DPRK.”

DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's full name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Zakharova was referring to Yoon’s statement made in a committee meeting at the Blue House on Jan. 31, in which he said the 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 the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a country.”

Amid the two nations' conflict over Yoon's comment, Seoul’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Chung Byung-won summoned Russian Ambassador to Korea Georgy Zinoviev on Saturday, saying, “It was very regrettable that Russia ignored the facts and unconditionally protected North Korea while criticizing the president’s remarks in extremely disrespectful language.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO AND ESTHER CHUNG [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]