Strategic Dialogue Held Amid North Korea's Troop Deployment to Ukraine
Choe Son-hui and Lavrov Attend Unveiling Ceremony of Kim Il-sung's First Official Visit to the Soviet Union Commemorative Plaque Photo by AP Yonhap News
Russia has expressed full support for North Korea's measures against the United States and its allies.
On the 2nd, a press release was distributed regarding the results of the strategic dialogue between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held in Moscow on the 1st (local time), stating that "it was confirmed that both sides share the same assessment of the current international situation."
Amid renewed international attention on the close cooperation between the two countries following the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, North Korea and Russia stated in this strategic dialogue that "there is a shared recognition that the main cause of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and other regions lies in the provocative actions of the United States and its follower countries." Russia expressed "full support for the measures taken by the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to deter the aggressive policies of the United States and its allies and to ensure peace and stability in the region." This is interpreted as endorsing North Korea's recent provocations involving new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
North Korea and Russia explained that the strategic dialogue focused on implementing the agreements from the North Korea-Russia summit held in June and involved in-depth exchanges of views on practical issues for developing bilateral relations. They added, "Both sides reaffirmed their firm will to accurately implement the provisions of the treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership that elevates the traditional North Korea-Russia friendship to a qualitatively new level."
Foreign Minister Choe has been visiting Russia since the 29th of last month, engaging in schedules including the North Korea-Russia strategic dialogue and attending the unveiling ceremony of the commemorative plaque for Kim Il-sung's first official visit to the Soviet Union.
Although North Korea and Russia did not disclose specific details discussed in this strategic dialogue and only mentioned discussing "practical issues for the development of bilateral relations," it is believed that they also coordinated responses regarding the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, which has recently drawn strong international backlash.
There was no direct mention of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
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