Russia Highlights Active and Comprehensive Cooperation with North Korea

On the 21st (local time), Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, said, “Russia has established active and comprehensive cooperation with North Korea.”

According to Yonhap News, Gerasimov revealed this during a briefing for foreign military attaches on the Russian Ministry of Defense activities this year, explaining that they are continuing the process of a “strategic partnership” with India and China.

Russia and North Korea have shown close military cooperation this year. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July and toured its weapons exhibition. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected major Russian military facilities after a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Although there have been continuous suspicions that North Korea has given weapons to Russia and received military technology, Russia has dismissed them as “groundless.”

Gerasimov also assessed that the possibility of conflict in the Asia-Pacific region has increased as Western-led military quasi-alliance activities have increased.

He cited the alliances between South Korea, the United States, and Japan, and the AUKUS (Australia, UK, and US) security alliance as examples. Especially regarding AUKUS, he criticized that “the participating countries can not only modernize conventional weapons through this, but also develop nuclear weapons.”

He also evaluated the situation in Europe, stating that the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Eastern Europe and the acceleration of the US military alliance with Sweden and Finland negatively impact the situation in Europe, predicting that “confrontation will increase.”

By. Min Jae Lee