Conflicts & War

Seoul tells North Korea to respect int’l rules amid Kim-Putin summit reports

Seoul, Sep 5 (EFE).- Seoul has urged North Korea to respect international norms and peace amid reports Kim Jong Un will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, South Korea’s unification ministry warned on Tuesday.

The statement from an official of South Korea’s unification ministry quoted by Yonhap news agency comes after reports from the New York Times that North Korea’s leader could travel to Vladivostok, in Russia’s far east, next week to discuss a possible arms deal with Putin.

“In regard to this, cooperation between North Korea and a nearby country, in all forms, should be conducted in a direction that does not hurt international order and peace,” an official at Seoul’s unification ministry told reporters on condition of anonymity, according to Yonhap.

“The government, alongside the international community, is closely watching cooperative ties involving North Korea and has raised the reminder that all member countries of the United Nations have a duty to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.

Washington has been warning for months that Pyongyang is looking to back Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by supplying ammunition.

On Monday, the White House reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu tried to purchase artillery ammunition when he traveled to Pyongyang in late July and that since then, the leaders of both countries have been in touch with the purpose of strengthening bilateral cooperation in this field.

Such bilateral transfers would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions for which Russia voted in favor as a permanent member of the council.

A spokeswoman for South Korea’s unification ministry told EFE that the ministry has not yet made an official statement regarding reports published by the New York Times and other US media.EFE

asb/ch

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