UPDATE – Russia providing military tech to North Korea ‘real concern,’ says top US diplomat

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS BY US SECRETARY OF STATE, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday said Russia’s military technology support to North Korea is “real concern” for Washington.

“We are seeing the DPRK provide military equipment to Russia for pursuing its aggression in Ukraine. But we’re also seeing Russia provide technology and support to the DPRK for its own military programs. And that’s a real concern," Blinken told a joint news conference in Seoul alongside his South Korean counterpart Park Jin.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

Blinken said he discussed with the South Korean side “ways to intensify pressure on Moscow not to transfer military technology to Pyongyang,” Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

Claims on transfer of tech support to Pyongyang from Moscow comes as North Korea has unsuccessfully tried to launch its military satellite.

Early on Thursday, Blinken condemned North Korea for arms supply to Russia.

He flew to Seoul on Wednesday after attending the Group of Seven meeting in Japan.

Ahead of his meeting with Jin there, Blinken called on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a luncheon meeting.

The US “leadership is becoming increasingly important due to instability in the Middle East, together with the issue of North Korea and its nuclear program, and the war in Ukraine,” Yoon told Washington’s top diplomat.

“As an ally of the United States, South Korea will work closely with the United States to defend core values and strengthen the rules-based international order,” he said, stressing what he called “global comprehensive strategic alliance” two allies have “firmly established.”

Blinken also met South Korea’s National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong in Seoul.

According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken and Cho discussed the importance of US-South Korean cooperation to address global challenges, including instability in the Middle East.

The two sides discussed North Korea’s “provocative actions in the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

Miller also said Blinken and Cho “strongly condemned the provision of military equipment and munitions” allegedly by Pyongyang to Russia “for use in its war against Ukraine.”

Reaffirming Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to the defense of South Korea, Blinken “stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine and thanked” Seoul for its “commitment to providing assistance to Ukraine.”

Under a bilateral defense treaty, South Korea hosts around 28,500 US troops in the country since 1953.