“The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation came to the DPRK for negotiations: what is known is that Andriy Belousov visited North Korea for negotiations with the country’s military leadership. The US says North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia and supplies military equipment.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
When announcing the visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not say who Belousov would meet with or what the purpose of the talks was. North Korean state media did not immediately confirm the visit.
Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin began his fifth term in power.
In photos released by the Ministry of Defense, Belousov walks with North Korean Defense Minister Noh Kwang Chol along the red carpet at Pyongyang Airport. North Korean military officials were seen cheering under a banner that read “Full support and solidarity with the Russian army and fighting people.”
After his arrival, Belousov noted that military cooperation between the countries is expanding. He welcomed the strategic partnership agreement signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after their June meeting in Pyongyang, which he said was aimed at reducing tensions by maintaining a “balance of power” in the region and reducing the risk of war, including by using nuclear weapons.
The June meeting demonstrated “the highest level of mutual trust” between the leaders, Belousov said, as well as “the mutual desire of our countries to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in a difficult international environment.”
North Korean Defense Minister Noh also reportedly “highly praised the growing cooperation between the countries’ military forces and confirmed North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” calling it a “fair fight to protect the country’s sovereign rights and security interests.”
The visit came days after South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov in the South Korean capital Seoul and called on the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to North Korea sending thousands of troops to Russia to provide aid. fight against Ukraine.
The United States and its allies have said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in recent weeks, and that some of those troops have taken part in combat operations.
North Korea has also been accused of supplying artillery systems, missiles and other military equipment to Russia, which could help Putin further prolong the nearly three-year war. Seoul also fears that North Korea, in exchange for its troops and arms, may receive Russian technology that could improve its nuclear and missile programs.
“The Russian defense minister is visiting North Korea not only to celebrate bilateral ties,” said Leif-Erik Easley, a professor at Ihwa University in Seoul. “This visit shows that the military cooperation between Putin and Kim, which violates international law , is about to get even stronger.”
Yun’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, said in a television interview last week that Seoul believes Russia has provided North Korea with air defense systems in exchange for sending in its troops.
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Shin said that Russia also apparently provided North Korea with economic aid and various military technologies, including those needed for North Korea’s efforts to build a reliable space surveillance system, which Kim stressed is critical to the increased threat of nuclear missiles. targeting South Korea.
Yun’s office did not say whether the two governments discussed the possibility of South Korean arms supplies to Ukraine during his talks with Umerov.
Yoon said his government would adopt phased countermeasures, tying the level of its response to the degree of Russian-North Korean cooperation.
At the time of writing, it was not clear whether Belousov would meet with Kim, the North Korean leader. Last year, Kim hosted a Russian delegation led by then Defense Minister Shoigu.
The Russian report on Belousov’s visit came as South Korea scrambled fighter jets to respond to six Russian and five Chinese warplanes that temporarily entered the country’s air defense identification zone around its East and South Seas, according to a report by the Joint Committee chiefs of staff of South Korea. It said that the Russian and Chinese planes did not violate the territorial airspace of South Korea.
South Korea’s defense ministry said it held phone talks with Chinese and Russian military attachés in Seoul to protest the flights and urge the countries to prevent similar incidents from happening again.