Russia’s top diplomat accuses US, South Korea and Japan of preparing for war with North Korea
UNITED NATIONS — Russia’s top diplomat on Wednesday accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of preparing for war with North Korea.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a UN press conference that this new military bloc, brought together by the United States, is building up military activities and conducting large-scale exercises. The United States, South Korea and Japan have described their combined military exercises as defensive in nature and necessary to counter growing North Korean nuclear threats.
Suddenly, South Korea’s rhetoric became “even more hostile toward Pyongyang,” Lavrov said. “We also hear aggressive rhetoric in Japan” and there is serious talk about setting up a NATO infrastructure with American help.
Lavrov said the military bloc’s goal is clearly stated: “They are preparing for a war with the DPRK,” the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Russian minister said the United States and its Asian allies have also discussed developing their cooperation. “It’s kind of sloppy the way they put it, but they said something like nuclear energy cooperation,” he said.
Last week, the three countries conducted combined naval exercises involving a US aircraft carrier in their latest show of force against nuclear-armed North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is conducting a provocative series of weapons tests and threats, raising regional tensions to their highest point in years. Senior diplomats from the three allies were due to meet in Seoul to discuss the worsening standoff with Pyongyang.
On the other hand, Lavrov said Russia’s relationship with North Korea is “going well and developing quite actively.”
“We see that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is trying to be independent, not to dance to anyone,” he said.
Kim is one of the few world leaders who openly supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Kim has actively increased the visibility of his ties with Russia in an effort to break diplomatic isolation and strengthen his position as he navigates a deepening nuclear standoff with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
When asked about Lavrov’s comments, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soosuk said they reflected North Korea’s “continually false and misleading claims as the country tries to shift blame to the outside world.” while it develops nuclear weapons and missiles on its own schedule.”
He accused North Korea of further raising tensions with its weapons demonstrations this month, including missile tests and artillery tests near a disputed maritime border with the South.
“Our government has consistently expressed its willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea without preconditions,” Lim said at a briefing.
The coordination between Moscow and Pyongyang has raised international concerns over alleged arms cooperation. North Korea is accused of supplying Russia with weapons supplies to help prolong the war fighting in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for economic aid and military technology.
Both countries have denied accusations from Washington and Seoul that North Korea has sent artillery shells, missiles and other military equipment to Russia in recent months.
Putin confirmed his willingness to visit the North Korean capital Pyongyang at an appropriate time during his meeting with Kim in the Russian Far East in September. Lavrov said the timing will be determined by the Kremlin.
Lavrov compared Kim’s recent announcement that North Korea would not pursue peaceful unification with the South to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that there will be no Palestinian state after the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“It is terrible when, instead of unity, we have trends that divide us,” the Russian minister said. “And yet this is a systematic process in many regions, and the main contributors to this trend are those who believe they are the masters of the universe.”
Without naming the United States and former Western colonial powers, he said countries that have spent half a millennium telling others how to live and believing they are “masters of the universe” ignore that the vast majority of former colonies are now independent and want to do that. support their cultural and religious identity.
These ex-colonial states are ‘leaving the West behind’, pointing to the BRICS economic bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. to land. The BRICS members have invited Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia to join.
Lavrov said that “the ex-colonial powers must face the reality in today’s world.”
“You shouldn’t just think that you are so strong just because you have the dollar,” he said.
__ AP writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed from Seoul, South Korea.