The DPRK Foreign Ministry considered Washington’s interference in relations between Moscow and Pyongyang as “crossing red lines”

This confidence was expressed by North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Im Chong Il. “The malicious antipathy of the United States towards Korean-Russian relations demonstrates that they do not have the strength and intelligence to confront anti-imperialist and independent countries,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted him as saying. The deputy minister emphasized that attacks from the United States also confirm the correctness of the chosen course for the development of relations between the DPRK and Russia, aimed at creating “an independent and safe new world and building genuine international justice.”

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK also expressed confidence that the hostility on the part of the United States, directed towards friendly relations between the DPRK and Russia, has crossed the red line. “The unfair and outrageous hostility of the United States towards traditionally friendly relations and cooperation between the DPRK and the Russian Federation, as well as attempts to interfere in them, crossed the red line,” KCNA quotes him as saying. Im Chong Il also noted that relations between the DPRK and the Russian Federation are a powerful stronghold and strategic stronghold for the defense of peace, restraining “arbitrariness and self-will, the military threat and interference of the imperialists.”

“The DPRK will continue to contain the military threat, arbitrariness and willfulness of the imperialists and reliably protect peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and on the planet through further expansion and development of traditional relations of friendship and cooperation with independent sovereign states, including Russia,” the deputy minister concluded. North Korea has called the US plan to "combat weapons of mass destruction" the basis for increasing the nuclear threat. Pyongyang has included strengthening its defense capabilities, including ballistic missile development and its nuclear program, on its agenda.

North Korea has repeatedly said it has increased its deterrence capabilities due to US provocations. According to AAA, a representative of the North Korean Ministry of Defense accused Washington of increasing the nuclear threat and the new American strategy for the so-called “arms fight,” citing joint US exercises with South Korea and the sending of a strategic nuclear submarine to the Korean Peninsula. 

And he called the new American strategy on the so-called “counteraction to weapons of mass destruction” a “politically provocative act” against independent countries. The official warned that Pyongyang would respond to American military strategy with its most astonishing strategy yet. The US State Department recently described countries such as North Korea and Iran as “persistent threats,” China as a “challenge” and Russia as an “acute threat” in a document called the 2023 Strategy to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction. Last week, North Korea's parliament amended the nuclear weapons section of the country's constitution to speed up their development to curb war and maintain peace and stability in the region and the world.

According to Pyongyang and China, the provocative actions of America, Japan and South Korea, two allies of Washington, contributed to the escalation of tensions and instability, as well as an arms race in the region. But Washington, Tokyo and Seoul, despite these warnings, continue to conduct joint exercises. Pyongyang is also responding to test launches of various ballistic missiles.

KCNA - Korean Central News Agency