Seoul: North Korea and other third countries have "perpetuated" the Russia-Ukraine war and "bear responsibility," a State Department spokesperson said Sunday, urging the North to cease its troop deployment to Russia and for Moscow to halt any reciprocal support to Pyongyang. The spokesperson's comments followed North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announcement that the country's ruling party's Central Military Commission confirmed its troop deployment to support Russia's war against Ukraine, marking the first public acknowledgment of such actions.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the State Department spokesperson stated, "Third countries, like the DPRK, that have perpetuated the Russia-Ukraine war, bear responsibility." The spokesperson emphasized concerns over North Korea's direct involvement in the conflict, urging the termination of North Korea's military deployment to Russia and any support provided by Russia in exchange.
The spokesperson highlighted that Russia's training of North Korean soldiers contravenes multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, which broadly prohibit military training or assistance involving the DPRK. The KCNA reported that the military commission claimed the operations for "liberating" Russia's western front-line Kursk region were successfully completed, illustrating the "highest strategic level of the firm military friendship" between North Korea and Russia.
The commission asserted that North Korea's military activities in Russia align with the U.N. Charter, international laws, and a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty between the two nations, portraying them as exemplary actions demonstrating commitment to these agreements. Despite South Korea's National Intelligence Service revealing in October that North Korea planned to deploy approximately 12,000 troops to Russia, the regime had not previously acknowledged this decision.