A top Russian diplomat has praised North Korea for its "firm" support of Moscow's protracted invasion of Ukraine, which has found few steadfast foreign backers.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the state-run Tass news agency that Pyongyang's backing for the Kremlin's strike on its neighbor will aid in advancing bilateral relations.
Russia-North Korea Ties
He said that North Korea was one of the few nations that supported Moscow's September claim of annexing four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces in Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk.
Alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang on a variety of topics and expanding diplomatic connections, Rudenko continued, "provide favorable conditions for this." North Korea is apparently providing diplomatic and military backing for Russia's invasion, while China and India have attempted to bridge the increasing gulf between Moscow and its Western adversaries.
The invasion is already in its eleventh month, with little indication that Russia would retreat despite repeated combat failures and deteriorating economic conditions, as per Newsweek via MSN. In March, North Korea was one of only five countries, together with Belarus, Eritrea, Syria, and Russia, to vote against a United Nations General Assembly resolution denouncing Moscow's incursion, which at the time threatened to capture Kyiv.
In April, North Korea was one of 24 countries that voted against suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. And in October, North Korea joined Russia in opposing a UN General Assembly resolution - approved by an overwhelming majority of 143 nations - urging member states not to acknowledge Moscow's purported annexations.
In addition to Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua, and Syria voted against the measure. North Korea has previously formally acknowledged the independence of Moscow's puppet republics in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, whose alleged protection was one of Putin's stated grounds for his war.
Ukraine broke diplomatic ties with Pyongyang as a result of this recognition. In the meanwhile, Russian diplomats have supported their North Korean colleagues at the United Nations as Pyongyang conducts an unprecedented number of ballistic missile launches that have angered the United States and its regional allies South Korea and Japan.
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North Korea Vows to Expand Military, Nuclear Capability
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has ordered a massive expansion of the country's military, including its nuclear capability. The statements were delivered on the first day of the new year, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim Jong Un discussed his aspirations to strengthen the military during a Workers' Party of Korea leadership conference.
A report from the conference urged for the "bulk production of tactical nuclear weapons" and for government authorities to "create another ICBM system whose primary task is the rapid nuclear counterattack."
Saturday morning, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, a further escalation after earlier launching drones into South Korean territory. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said that they had detected three missile launches from North Korean territory south of Pyongyang, Fox News reported.
From their launch location into the Sea of Japan, the three missiles traveled nearly 350 kilometers. The distance implies an increase in North Korea's capabilities to attack South Korea. The missiles were only the most recent demonstration of the hermit kingdom's growing military might.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden disputed that the allies were planning joint nuclear exercises, but South Korea reaffirmed on Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are discussing Seoul's participation in US nuclear asset management in the light of escalating North Korean nuclear threats.
Per Business Mirror, some analysts believe Kim Jong Un may eventually attempt to utilize his augmented arsenal to extract concessions from the international community, such as sanctions relief.
In an interview with a South Korean newspaper published on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that the two nations were pressing for collaborative planning and training including US nuclear capabilities and that the United States replied favorably to the notion.
Later, when asked by a reporter at the White House if the two nations were contemplating combined nuclear drills, Biden responded, "No."
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