10 Countries Including South Korea, US, Japan and EU "Firmly Oppose North Korea's Weapon Transfers to Russia"

Joint Foreign Ministers' Statement on Responding to North Korea-Russia Military Cooperation
"Independent Sanctions by Each Country, Coordinated Efforts"

Foreign ministers from 10 countries including South Korea, the United States, and Japan, along with the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, declared on the 31st that they "firmly oppose" North Korea's transfer of weapons to Russia.

Missile fragment photo released by Ukraine last March as evidence of North Korean weapons used in their country. [Photo by Yonhap News]

In a joint statement released that day, the foreign ministers said, "Russia has used (North Korean weapons) to strike critical facilities in Ukraine, prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people."

They went on to urge, "North Korea and Russia must cease illegal arms transfers, and North Korea should take concrete measures to completely, verifiably, and irreversibly abandon all nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and related programs."

The statement included the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the EU.

They explained that the recent unilateral sanctions imposed by each country are "coordinated efforts to hold North Korea and Russia accountable and to make individuals and entities involved in the illegal transfer of North Korean weapons to Russia pay the price."

The South Korean government designated seven North Korean individuals involved in military supplies transport and arms transactions between North Korea and Russia, as well as two Russian vessels, as targets of unilateral sanctions on the 24th.

The foreign ministers also expressed serious concern over the deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which clearly violates multiple United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

They particularly condemned Russia's veto against the resolution to extend the mandate of the expert panel of the UNSC Sanctions Committee on North Korea, stating, "Russia sought to deprive all UN member states of objective and independent information and guidance necessary to implement binding and effective Security Council resolutions concerning North Korea."

The foreign ministers added, "We urge North Korea to respond to the numerous serious proposals to return to diplomacy, which is the only path to achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula."

AFP reported that Italy, the chair of the Group of Seven (G7) this year, also issued this joint statement with the foreign ministers of the G7, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.