Seoul slams Pyongyang over alleged supply of weapons to Moscow

Seoul, Oct 16 (EFE).- South Korea criticized the North on Monday amid signs that it had recently sent weapons to Russia following last month’s summit between the leaders of both countries, Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin.

“North Korea has denied an arms trade with Russia several times, but relevant circumstances are emerging one by one,” the South’s unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung said at a press conference.

“The true nature of North Korea, which has attempted to deceive the whole world, has been exposed,” he added.

Koo said that any arms trade with North Korea must be stopped since it violated the United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang, and urged Russia to “fulfill its responsibility and role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”

Koo’s remarks come after US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that North Korea had sent over 1,000 containers full of military equipment and ammunition to Russia by train and ship for its war with Ukraine.

The White House released images showing the movement of the containers between Sep. 7 and Oct. 1 from the North Korean port of Rason to Dunay, near Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East.

The containers were then transported by train to an ammunition depot near Tikhoretsk, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) from the Russian border with Ukraine, according to the images.

Satellite images have also shown an unprecedented increase in freight railcar traffic at the border between Russia and North Korea.

Kim and Putin met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East on Sep.13 to boost bilateral ties.

Both the White House and the US media say that North Korea is willing to supply artillery and other military equipment to Russia for its war with Ukraine in exchange for different types of advanced military technologies. EFE

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