North Korea and Russia Simultaneously Refute US Claims: "No Arms Deals Made or Planned"

"Do Not Baselessly Target Our Republic,"
Embassy of Russia in North Korea Calls US Claims 'Groundless' in Email

North Korean ballistic missile [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] North Korea and Russia have both denied the allegations of arms transactions between the two countries raised by the United States.

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 8th, North Korea issued a statement in the name of the Deputy Director of the Military Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Defense, stating, "We have never engaged in 'arms transactions' with Russia and clearly reaffirm that we have no plans to do so in the future."

The statement recalled that "Recently, the United States has been continuously publicizing baseless 'arms transaction rumors' between us and Russia, attempting to make them a fait accompli," and noted that in September, the Deputy Director of the Equipment General Bureau of the Ministry of Defense condemned this as an "anti-Republic slander," as previously announced.

It continued, "We evaluate the U.S. maneuvers as part of a hostile attempt to obscure the international perspective on our Republic by linking them to the illegal and outrageous UN Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea," emphasizing, "The United States should not groundlessly pick on our Republic."

The Russian side also claims that it has not received weapons supplies from North Korea.

The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang rebutted the U.S. claim that "North Korea is secretly supplying artillery shells to Russia" as "false from beginning to end" in an email, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the same day. The embassy added, referring to an interview by Ambassador Aleksandr Matsegora with Russian media, where he stated, "Russia has neither directly nor through intermediaries received weapons or ammunition from North Korea, nor does it plan to do so in the future."

Meanwhile, there have been claims that North Korea might demand debt forgiveness from Russia through arms exports.

Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), wrote on the CSIS website on the 7th that "Historically, North Korea has wanted debt forgiveness from Russia since the era of Boris Yeltsin (former Russian president)," and analyzed, "If so, arms supply would be an economic decision rather than a strategic one."

U.S. intelligence agencies revealed in September that Russia was purchasing millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea for use in the Ukraine war, which North Korea immediately denied. Subsequently, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council (NSC), reiterated suspicions on the 2nd, stating, "We have received information that North Korea has covertly provided a significant amount of artillery shells to Russia for the Ukraine war."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.