Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders, as the countries deepen their cooperation regarding Russia's war in Ukraine, AP reports, writes UNN.
Details
Announcing the visit, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not say who Belousov would meet with or what the purpose of the negotiations was. North Korean state media did not immediately confirm the visit.
Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin began a fifth term in power.
In photos released by the Ministry of Defense, Belousov walks along the red carpet at Pyongyang Airport with North Korean Defense Minister Noh Kwang Chol. North Korean military officials were seen applauding under a banner reading "Full support and solidarity with the struggling Russian army and people.
After his arrival, Belousov noted that military cooperation between the two countries is expanding. He welcomed the strategic partnership agreement signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after their June meeting in Pyongyang, which, he said, is aimed at reducing tensions by maintaining a "balance of power" in the region and reducing the risk of war, including with the use of nuclear weapons.
The June meeting demonstrated the "highest level of mutual trust" between the leaders, Belousov said, as well as the "mutual desire of our countries to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in a difficult international environment.
North Korean Defense Minister Noh reportedly also "praised the expanding cooperation between the countries' military forces and reaffirmed North Korea's support for Russia's war in Ukraine," calling it a "just struggle to protect the country's sovereign rights and security interests.
The visit took place a few days after South Korean President Yun Seok-el met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in the South Korean capital Seoul and called on the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to North Korea sending thousands of soldiers to Russia to help fight against Ukraine.
The United States and its allies have said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in recent weeks, and that some of those troops have been involved in combat.
North Korea is also accused of supplying artillery systems, missiles and other military equipment to Russia, which could help Putin further prolong the nearly three-year war. Seoul also fears that North Korea, in exchange for its troops and weapons supplies, may receive Russian technology that can improve its nuclear and missile programs.
"The Russian Defense Minister is visiting North Korea not only to celebrate bilateral ties," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ihwa University in Seoul. "This visit shows that Putin and Kim's military cooperation, which violates international law, is about to intensify even more.
Yun's national security adviser Shin Wonsik said in a television interview last week that Seoul believes Russia provided North Korea with air defense systems in exchange for sending its troops.
Shin said Russia also appears to have provided North Korea with economic assistance and various military technologies, including those needed for North Korea's efforts to build a reliable space surveillance system, which Kim stressed is crucial to heighten the threat of nuclear missiles aimed at South Korea.
Yoon's office did not say whether the two governments discussed the possibility of South Korea supplying weapons to Ukraine during his talks with Umerov.
Yun said his government would take step-by-step countermeasures, linking the level of its response to the degree of Russian-North Korean cooperation.
At the time of writing, it was not clear whether Belousov would meet with Kim, the North Korean leader. Last year, Kim hosted a Russian delegation led by then-Defense Minister Shoigu.
The Russian report on Belousov's visit came as South Korea scrambled fighter jets to respond to six Russian and five Chinese military aircraft that temporarily entered the country's air defense identification zone around its eastern and southern seas, according to a report by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. It said that Russian and Chinese aircraft did not violate the territorial airspace of South Korea.
The South Korean Defense Ministry said it had held telephone talks with Chinese and Russian military attaches in Seoul to protest the flights and urge countries to prevent a repeat of such cases.