North Korea denies arms sales to Russia
North Korea on Sunday denied claims by Washington that the Pyongyang regime had supplied arms to Moscow.
Last week, White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby released US intelligence footage showing suspected Russian train cars from North Korea loaded with military equipment, including rocket launchers and ammunition for the Wagner paramilitary group engaged in Ukraine. The USA described the Wagner group as a “criminal organization” and declared that it would transfer these recordings to the United Nations as part of the sanctions against Pyongyang.
Director-General of North Korea’s Department of American Affairs Kwon Jong-un, according to the official KCNA news agency, dismissed this “rumor created from scratch” and warned the United States that it would be exposing itself to a “truly undesirable outcome” if it did so if so, they spread it further.
“The attempt to tarnish the image [la Corée du Nord] Fabricating something that doesn’t exist is a serious provocation that can never be allowed and can only provoke a reaction,” he added. He denounced “a stupid attempt to justify future arms sales to Ukraine” by the United States, which promised Kyiv 31 M1 Abrams tanks on Thursday.
On Friday, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, slammed US promises to send arms to Ukraine and accused them of “crossing the red line even further.”
Alongside China, Russia is one of Pyongyang’s few international allies and has already provided direct assistance to the North Korean regime. Along with Syria and Russia, North Korea is the only country to have recognized the independence of the “People’s Republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk, two pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
Russia, which is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has long opposed tougher international sanctions on North Korea, even calling for them to be relaxed on humanitarian grounds.