South Korean defence minister Shin Won-sik said that more evidence suggests weapons used by Russia in the war in Ukraine were illegally imported from North Korea. The increase in cooperation would cause a significant improvement in North Korea’s conventional military capability. This posed an imminent threat.
“Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. It is also affecting the battlefield in Europe.”
Shin was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue. The dialogue is Asia’s biggest defence forum which is currently under way in Singapore.
The US said in February that North Korea had delivered more than 10,000 container of munitions and related material to Russia since September. However, both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied accusations that North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.
Shin also called for China to take a more active role on denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Asked if South Korea would seek nuclear weapons of its own, Shin said that South Korea trusts the global non-proliferation treaty (NPT) regime. He added that a stronger US-South Korean alliance was the answer to North Korea’s nuclear development.
North Korea has increased aggresive activites in recen times. It fired 18 short-range ballistic missiles during a drill. It said this was a demonstration of its willingness to launch a pre-emptive strike against South Korea’s “gangsters’ regime” if necessary.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided the firing drill of the 600 mm “super-large” multiple rocket launchers on Thursday.
South Korea said it had detected at least 10 short-range ballistic missiles fired by North Korea off its east coast. It called it a possible display for would-be weapons buyers.
Deputy spokesperson for Seoul’s unification ministry Kim In-ae told a briefing that the launch was a clear act of provocation that threatened peace on the Korean peninsula.
With inputs from Reuters
