Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternate Representative of the U.S. for Special Political Affairs in the U.N., speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting at the U.N. headquarters in N.Y., Nov. 25. AFP-Yonhap
North Korea's chief envoy to the United Nations has sidestepped a question confirming the country's troop deployment to Russia during a U.N. meeting, instead reiterating that his country will continue to develop relations with Russia.
Kim Song, North Korea's permanent representative to the U.N., made the remarks while responding to a question from Robert Wood, the United States' alternate representative, during a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Wednesday in New York.
"The deployment of DPRK troops to help Russia carry out its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine ... has fundamentally changed the nature of this war, posing ... an increasing threat to broader European security," Wood said during the session.
The U.S. representative then shifted the focus to Kim, asking, "It's a very simple question ... Has DPRK deployed troops to Russia?"
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
South Korea and the U.S. said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine, and some of them have already entered combat in Russia's western Kursk border region.
Kim did not answer Wood's question with a simple yes or no, instead stating, "The treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russian Federation fully conforms to international law and the U.N. Charter."
He said that his country "therefore remains faithful to its obligation under that treaty," a remark interpreted as an effective acknowledgment of his country's troop deployment to Russia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the treaty in Pyongyang in June, which commits the two nations to providing military aid to each other in the event of war.
The treaty elevated their military relations to a new level, regarded as similar to an alliance.
In his earlier remarks to the UNSC meeting, the North Korean envoy said that his country and Russia are "developing bilateral relations in all fields, including politics, economy, military and culture" under the mutual treaty.
"The DPRK will remain faithful to its obligation under the treaty and continue to strengthen and develop relations" with Russia to contribute to regional and global peace and security and realize international justice, he said.
During the meeting, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's permanent representative, accused Kim of "representing a criminal regime" that "helps another criminal regime," saying that he and his country's leadership will "end up in the dock."
Additionally, the U.S. envoy revealed that North Korea is preparing to supply more ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
"We have information that a large number of DPRK-origin 170 millimeter long-range self-propelled artillery pieces and 240 mm long-range multiple rocket launchers are being introduced into the conflict," Wood noted.
It is in addition to North Korea's transfer of over 18,000 containers of ammunition and ammunition-related materials, as well as more than 100 ballistic missiles to Russia, he added.
In return, Russia supplied North Korea with air defense systems and other "substantial benefits," including fuel, and is selling dual-use technology and equipment to help the North Korean regime improve its military manufacturing and capabilities, Wood said. (Yonhap)