While South Korea contemplates arming Ukraine, the State Department cautions that such a move may destabilise the peninsula.
Days after Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, and Vladimir Putin signed a defence agreement requiring their nations to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked, a senior US official called Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea incredibly concerning.
Russian weaponry to Pyongyang would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially… depending on the type of weapons they provide… violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported, according to Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and South Korea’s foreign ministry said the treaty between Russia and North Korea posed a “serious threat” to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Blinken said the US would consider “various measures” in response to the pact, which elevated ties between the sanctions-hit states to their highest level since the cold war. South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest against the pact with North Korea, as border tensions continued to rise. Seoul has also said it would consider providing arms to Ukraine, triggering an angry response from the Russian ambassador, Georgy Zinoviev, who said attempts to blackmail and threaten Russia were unacceptable, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Kim Hong-kyun, the vice foreign minister of South Korea, denounced the deal and urged Russia to immediately stop its military cooperation with North Korea at his meeting with Zinoviev on Friday.
This week has seen an increase in hostilities over arms shipments to both sides in the conflict in Ukraine, with rumours circulating that at their meeting in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Putin and Kim talked about getting more North Korean missiles and ammunition for Russian soldiers to use.
Putin stated on Thursday, while on a state visit to Vietnam, that the west arming Ukrainian soldiers should be met with equal deliveries of Russian weaponry to North Korea.
I said, including in Pyongyang, that we then reserve the right to supply weapons to other regions of the world, with regard to our agreements with North Korea, Putin stated. Those who send these [missiles to Ukraine] think that they are not fighting us. I don’t rule anything out,
In addition, Putin, who was seeing Kim for the second time in nine months, cautioned South Korea that arming Ukraine would be a big mistake.
He told reporters in Hanoi, I hope it doesn’t happen. If that occurs, we will have to make pertinent decisions that are unlikely to appease South Korea’s current administration.
Along with joining US-led sanctions against Moscow, South Korea, a developing arms exporter with a well-equipped military supported by the US, has given Ukraine non-lethal aid and other forms of support. However, it has a long-standing policy of refusing to arm nations engaged in hostilities.
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, has a national security adviser named Chang Ho-jin, who stated on Friday that Seoul will reevaluate its position on arming Ukraine.
Jens Stoltenberg, the chairman of NATO, expressed concern that Russia would assist North Korea in advancing its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, which have advanced significantly in spite of years-long UN security council sanctions.
Putin was prepared for direct communication with the US on security matters, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who also hinted that Moscow would like to talk about its conflict in Ukraine.
Peskov stated, “There is a great need for dialogue [between Moscow and Washington] because issues are mounting and many of them are connected to the global security architecture.”
In an effort to lower the likelihood of a nuclear exchange, the US has pushed for direct talks with Russia. However, US officials have stated that they do not think Putin is sincere in his willingness to negotiate an end to his invasion and that Ukraine should determine the timing and format of any peace negotiations.
According to US authorities, North Korea wants to purchase advanced technologies from Moscow, including fighter planes, surface-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles, and supplies and machinery for producing ballistic missiles.
There is proof, according to the US and South Korea, that Pyongyang has already sent Russia a sizable quantity of artillery shells and ballistic missiles. “Absurd” is how North Korea has characterised the accusations.
Russian weaponry exports to North Korea are expected to escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula and, some analysts believe, risk escalating a regional arms race that has attracted Japan and South Korea, two allies of the United States.
Recent weeks have seen a dramatic decline in relations between North and South Korea due to the return of psychological warfare from the Cold War era, which includes North Korea releasing massive amounts of trash on the southern side of the border between the two countries using balloons.
In response, Seoul has started using speakers to broadcast propaganda critical of North Korea. After reports surfaced that North Korean soldiers had crossed the border for the third time this month, its forces responded with warning shots on Friday.
Under the leadership of North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, activists from South Korea claimed to have released 20 balloons from the border town of Paju, South Korea, on Thursday night, carrying 300,000 propaganda leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks with South Korean pop music and TV dramas, and 3,000 US dollar bills.
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, responded by calling the campaigners “defector scum” and seeming to threaten reprisal.
There’s proof that North Korea is erecting fences at certain border locations, just days after multiple soldiers were reportedly killed or maimed while clearing terrain in mine-filled areas.
High-resolution satellite images of a 7 kilometre length of the border, according to the BBC, appeared to indicate at least three areas where obstacles have been erected.
In my opinion, this marks the initial instance where a barrier has been constructed to divide locations from one another,” stated Dr. Uk Yang, a military and defence specialist at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies located in Seoul, in the article.
The enormous number of troops that North Korea has stationed to protect its border—possibly in an effort to stop soldiers and civilians from defecting to the South—is thought by experts to be connected to the invasions.
Washington is particularly uneasy about Putin’s travel to Vietnam, where he was greeted with a 21-gun salute on Thursday.
