North and Russia blame U.S. for tension on Korean Peninsula at bilateral talks

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North and Russia blame U.S. for tension on Korean Peninsula at bilateral talks

Published: 03 Nov. 2024, 15:45 Updated: 03 Nov. 2024, 16:46

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov arrive for bilateral talks at the Reception House in Moscow. [TASS/YONHAP]

North Korea and Russia blamed the United States and its allies for the worsening situation on the Korean Peninsula and other regions after strategic talks between the two countries' top envoys, with Moscow expressing its full support for Pyongyang's stance against Washington.

North Korea and Russia said the relations between the two countries "are growing stronger at a new strategic level" in an English-language statement Saturday after a strategic dialogue took place between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held in Moscow on Friday. They added that "the two sides' assessments of the current international situation are consistent."

According to a press release carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the strategic dialogue "expressed a common understanding that the main cause of the escalation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and in other regions is the provocative actions of the United States and its followers."

Russia expressed its “full support for the measures taken by the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to curb the aggression policies of the United States and its allies and to ensure peace and stability in the region,” referring to North Korea by its official name. This is interpreted as Moscow condoning Pyongyang’s recent provocations, such as its new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch on Thursday.

North Korea and Russia said that the strategic dialogue focused on implementing the agreement reached at the Pyongyang-Moscow summit in June and had an in-depth exchange of opinions on practical issues for the development of bilateral relations.

In doing so, “the two sides reaffirmed their firm will to accurately implement the provisions of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, which has qualitatively elevated the traditional North Korea-Russia friendly relations to a new level,” said the press release.

Choe has been in Russia since last Tuesday, with the international community once again paying attention to the close relationship between the two countries following North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia. She is currently carrying out official duties, such as attending the North Korea-Russia strategic dialogue and the unveiling ceremony of the plaque commemorating Kim Il-sung's first official visit to the Soviet Union in 1949.

North Korea and Russia did not disclose the specific details of the strategic talks and said that the representatives discussed “practical issues for the development of bilateral relations,” but it is speculated that the North's dispatch of troops to Russia was discussed — a topic that has recently been met with strong international opposition.

There was no direct mention of the issue in the press release.

Prior to the strategic dialogue on Friday, Choe and Lavrov attended the unveiling ceremony of a plaque commemorating Kim Il Sung's first official visit to the Soviet Union at the Yaroslavsky Train Station in Moscow.

“Under the close comradely friendship and strategic guidance of the North Korean and Russian leaders, the strategic value and significance of the DPRK-Russia relationship are being increasingly valued in the harsh international political environment,” Choe said during her speech at the ceremony, reported the KCNA.

Choe’s remark that the strategic value of bilateral relations has become more important amid the current situation is interpreted as an intention to further highlight close military cooperation, including the dispatch of troops to Russia.

She also expressed support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying, "The Russian army and people, who have risen up in a just fight to establish a new international order, will definitely achieve victory under the wise leadership of Comrade President Putin."

"Choe expressed her conviction that the great friendship and unity of the peoples of the two countries, who have built future-oriented, interstate relations and fought shoulder to shoulder to achieve common goals, will be firmly inherited and developed along with the new era of comprehensive development," the KCNA report said.

Lavrov, who attended the unveiling ceremony alongside Choe, emphasized in his speech that the treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between North Korea and Russia "has already entered the stage of implementation in the interests of the peoples of the two countries."

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]