WASHINGTON, June 10 (Yonhap) — A State Department official called on “all” countries Monday to honor U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs amid a report that Russian President Vladimir Putin could visit Pyongyang in the coming weeks.
The Russian daily Vedomosti has reported that Putin is expected to make a trip to the North as early as this month before paying a visit to Hanoi, as Seoul, Washington and other countries are closely watching deepening military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow for their security implications.
“I think the one thing that is very clear is that the UNSC resolutions related to the DPRK are still in effect, and that everyone has an obligation to honor those UNSC resolutions, including Russia, who voted for the Security Council resolutions,” the official said in a meeting with reporters. DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We, of course, will continue to call upo
n all countries, including Russia, to honor its international obligations and commitments with respect to the DPRK’s illegal WMD and ballistic missile programs,” he added.
The official noted that he has been following up on media reports regarding Putin’s potential trip to the North.
“We will have to watch and see what happens if he does go and what comes out of it,” he said.
Putin’s visit to the North, if realized, would mark his first trip to the North in 24 years. He last visited the reclusive country in July 2000, when Kim Jong-un’s late father, Kim Jong-il, was in power.
Washington has revealed that Pyongyang has shipped over 10,000 containers of munitions or munition-related materials to Russia since September, in addition to its missile shipments.
In return, the North has been seeking assistance from Moscow, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and ballistic missile production equipment, according to U.S. officials.
Commenting on growing cooperation between Pyongy
ang and Moscow, Richard Johnson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and countering weapons of mass destruction policy, voiced concerns over it.
“We are extremely concerned with this collaboration and cooperation that we see with Russia and the DPRK,” he said during a forum hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He reiterated that the North’s provision of weapons to Russia is a violation of UNSC resolutions.
“We are also concerned that Russia may be helping the DPRK in a range of areas, including surface-to-air missiles, production equipment for ballistic missiles or material, or other advanced technologies,” he said. “So we have to keep a very close eye on this.”
Johnson restated that the U.S. goal remains the “complete,” and “verifiable” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
“We continue to say that we are prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. We obviously will do so with close consultation with our allies, ROK, Japan and others,
” he said, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
He also touched on the results of the third gathering of the Nuclear Consultative Group, a bilateral nuclear deterrence dialogue, in Seoul this week. He said that the allies will have at least three table top exercises on nuclear deterrence, including a military-to-military exercise, over the course of next year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency