North Korean leader's sister dismisses suspicions of weapons exports to Russia

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un dismissed allegations of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow on Friday, emphasizing that North Korean weapons are solely intended to target Seoul, not for exports to Russia.

The statement by Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, came amid suspicions that North Korea supplied weapons to Russia to support its war in Ukraine.

"We have no intention to export our military technical capabilities to any country or open them to the public," Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), saying such allegations are "the most absurd paradox."

Kim said North Korea's tactical weapons, including multiple rocket launchers and missiles, are intended to deter South Korea from engaging in "any idle thinking," in an apparent reference to the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills.

Pyongyang has long denounced the allies' military drills as rehearsals for an invasion against it, while Seoul and Washington have rejected such claims, describing their exercises as defensive in nature.

"What is most urgent for us is not to 'advertise' or 'export' something, but to make the war readiness and war deterrent of our army more perfect in quality and quantity and to make the enemy unable to overcome the inferiority in military capability," she said.

North Korean leader Kim has recently inspected sites of weapons development, leading to analysis suggesting that Pyongyang is not only developing for its own military purposes, but also considering exports to Russia.

On May 10, he oversaw a test-firing of controllable shells for "the technically updated version" of the 240mm (9.4 in) multiple rocket launcher system. The weapon system is believed to target South Korea's broader capital area.

Over the weekend, Kim paid a visit to major defense industrial enterprises and inspected the modernization of production lines and production plans for the year.

On Wednesday, he inspected a new tactical missile weapons system and called for an "epochal change" in war preparations by attaining arms production plans.

Yonhap