Choe Son-hui of North Korea: "We Will Never Change Our Nuclear Strengthening Line"... Russian Foreign Minister: "Close Russia-North Korea Relations"

North Korean and Russian Foreign Ministers Meet in Moscow

Amid the impending deployment of North Korean troops to the Russian frontlines, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with the Russian Foreign Minister and emphasized that North Korea will not change its nuclear weapons enhancement policy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media outlets such as TASS and AFP on the 1st, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui at the Moscow Foreign Ministry residence and stated, "We have established close relations between the special services (security sector) of Russia and the North Korean military," adding, "This will help address important security objectives of both countries."

North Korea emphasized its nuclear force enhancement policy. Foreign Minister Choe criticized, "The United States and South Korea have conducted multiple exercises aimed at nuclear use against North Korea," and said, "Such provocative actions carry the risk that the power on the Korean Peninsula could be broken at any time."

She continued, "Yesterday, Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, affirmed that due to the dangers and challenges against us, it is increasingly necessary to strengthen modern military forces and improve nuclear response readiness, and that the nuclear enhancement policy will never be changed."

Regarding Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Choe said, "Under the wise leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin, I have no doubt that the Russian military and people will achieve a great victory in the sacred struggle to defend sovereignty and national security," and added, "We will always stand by our Russian comrades until the day of victory."

Prior to the meeting, Minister Lavrov and Foreign Minister Choe visited Moscow's Yaroslavsky railway station to jointly attend the unveiling ceremony of a commemorative plaque marking Kim Il-sung's visit to the Soviet Union in 1949. Foreign Minister Choe departed from Pyongyang on the 28th of last month for her official visit to Russia and arrived in Moscow on the 30th.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government stated at a press conference the previous day that 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed and are training in Kursk, Russia, and are expected to be deployed in combat against Ukraine within days.