The United States and South Korea accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 troops to help the Russians in the conflict
Russia supplied anti-aircraft missiles to North Korea in exchange for sending troops to support Moscow in the war against Ukraine, South Korean national security director Shin Won-sik said this Friday (22).
The United States and South Korea have accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 troops to help the Russians in the conflict. Some experts point out that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un wanted in return to obtain advanced technology, such as surveillance satellites and submarines, and combat experience for his troops.
“It has been detected that anti-aircraft equipment and missiles were sent to North Korea with the intention of reinforcing Pyongyang’s vulnerable air defense system,” Won-sik told SBS television channel.
Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership treaty in June. The text obliges both countries to provide military assistance “without delay” in the event of an attack on one of them and to cooperate to face Western sanctions.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui recently visited Moscow and said her country will “firmly support” Russia “until Victory Day.”
Kim Jong-un accuses the United States of increasing tension and provocations, saying the Korean peninsula has never faced a greater risk of nuclear war, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
The comments came amid international criticism over the increasingly close military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Previous negotiations with Washington only highlighted its “aggressive and hostile” policy towards North Korea, Kim Jong-un said in a speech during a military exhibition in Pyongyang on Thursday (21), according to KCNA.
“Never before have the warring parties on the Korean peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” Kim said. “We have already gone as far as we can in negotiations with the United States.”
North Korea and Russia are subject to UN (United Nations) sanctions: Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program and Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
The deployment of North Korean troops prompted a change of tone from Seoul, which resisted calls to send weapons to Kiev but recently indicated it could change its policy.
