(SEOUL) The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday denied arms shipments from Pyongyang to Moscow, calling the allegations “absurd”, according to state media.
South Korea and the United States have repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia, while the latter two countries are subject to international sanctions: Russia for its nuclear program and for invading Ukraine and North Korea.
Experts have also warned that the North’s intensive testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles could prepare to supply Russia.
“Pyongyang has no intention of exporting its military technical capabilities to any country,” Kim Yo Jong said, according to a statement published by the official KCNA news agency on Friday.
He also accused Seoul and Washington of misleading public opinion with a false rumor that “(we) produced weapons will be ‘exported to Russia.’
“What is most urgent for us is not to promote or export anything, but to improve war production and the deterrence (capability) of our army in terms of quality and quantity,” he said.
Photo by Vladimir Smirnov, Archives Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2023
In April, Pyongyang thanked Moscow for using its Security Council veto to block the establishment of a new expert panel to monitor the implementation of international sanctions aimed at North Korea.
South Korea said it sent Russia about 7,000 weapons containers for use in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for technical assistance in its satellite program.
On Tuesday, Kim Jong-un inspected a new tactical missile weapon system and called for an “era change” in war preparations.
“Tactical weapons, including many of the rocket launchers and missiles we have demonstrated recently, are produced to accomplish a mission,” Kim Yo Jong said in his statement on Friday.
“We are not hiding that these weapons will be used to prevent Seoul from inventing crazy ideas.”
Inter-Korean relations have been at an all-time low for years, with Pyongyang declaring South Korea its “main enemy”.
