South Korean Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Hong Kyun has summoned Russian Ambassador to Seoul, Georgy Zinoviev to protest the deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.
He also called for Moscow to immediately halt its alleged military cooperation with Pyongyang.
That came two days after Moscow and Pyongyang reached a pact vowing mutual defense assistance if either is attacked, and a day after Seoul responded by saying it would consider providing arms to Ukraine to fight Russia’s invasion.
Kim conveyed Seoul’s stance on the pact and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea to Zinoviev.
Kim stressed that any cooperation that directly or indirectly helps the North build up its military capabilities would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to the South’s security, and warned of consequences for Seoul’s relations with Moscow.
Zinoviev replied that he would convey Seoul’s concerns to his superiors in Moscow.
The Russian Embassy in Seoul, said in a post on X that “The Ambassador said that cooperation between Russia and North Korea is not aimed at a third country.”
Also on Friday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that Minister Cho Tae-yul held separate phone calls with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa to discuss the new pact.
Cho’s ministry said in a statement that the diplomats agreed that the agreement poses a serious threat to peace and stability in the region and vowed to strengthen trilateral coordination to deal with the challenges posed by the alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Kim Yo Jong Issues Threat Of Retaliation
Earlier on Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un issued a vague threat of retaliation after South Korean activists flew balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border, and South Korea’s military said it had fired warning shots the previous day to repel North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the rivals’ land border for the third time this month.
The South Korean civilian activists, led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, said it sent 20 balloons carrying 300,000 propaganda leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks with South Korean pop songs and TV dramas, and 3,000 U.S. dollar bills from the South Korean border town of Paju.
In a statement carried by North Korea’s official News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, called the activists “defector scum” and issued what appeared to be a threat of retaliation.
“When you do something you were clearly warned not to do, it’s only natural that you will find yourself dealing with something you didn’t have to,” she said, without specifying what North Korea would do.
Leafletting campaigns by South Korean civilian activists in recent weeks have prompted a resumption of Cold War-style psychological warfare along the inter-Korean border.
Analysts claim that Pyongyang resents such material and fears that it could demoralize front-line troops and residents and eventually weaken Kim Jong Un’s grip on power.
After previous leafletting by South Korean activists, North Korea launched more than 1,000 balloons that dropped tons of trash in South Korea, smashing roof tiles and windows and causing other property damage.
In response, South Korea resumed anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts with military loudspeakers installed at the border for the first time in years
In the latest border incident, South Korea’s military said that it fired warning shots after several North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border, the third such incident this month.
The North Korean soldiers retreated after the warning shots.
South Korea’s military says that it believes recent border intrusions were not intentional, as the North Korean soldiers have not returned fire and retreated after the warning shots.
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