The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday denied widespread allegations that Pyongyang is sending weapons to Russia, calling the claim “absurd.”
South Korea and the United States have repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Moscow, despite a series of UN sanctions on both countries that would prohibit such arms transfers.
Analysts have also warned that increased testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles by the nuclear-armed North could be in preparation for shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine.
But Kim Yo Jong said Pyongyang “has no intention of exporting our military technical capabilities to any country,” according to a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Friday.
She further accused Seoul and Washington of “misleading public opinion with a false rumor that weapons systems produced by … (us) are ‘for export to Russia’.”
“What is most urgent for us is not to ‘announce’ or ‘export’ something, but to make our army’s war readiness and war deterrence more perfect in quality and quantity,” she said.
The largely isolated North has recently strengthened military ties with Moscow, and Pyongyang thanked Russia last month for using its UN Security Council veto to block the renewal of a panel of experts monitoring international sanctions on the Kim’s regime.
South Korea said in March that North Korea had sent about 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia for its war with Ukraine, transfers that Seoul believes began around last July.
Washington and experts said Pyongyang was seeking a range of military assistance from Russia in return, such as satellite technology and upgrading its Soviet-era military equipment.
The North said last week that the country would equip its armed forces with a new 240mm multiple rocket launcher from this year, adding that a “significant change” in the army’s artillery combat capabilities was underway.
On Tuesday, leader Kim Jong Un inspected a new tactical missile weapons system and called for a “historic shift” in war preparations by meeting arsenal production targets.
“Tactical weapons, including multiple rocket launchers and missiles shown by us recently, are produced to fulfill the single mission,” Kim Yo Jong’s Friday statement said.
“We make no secret of the fact that such weapons will be used to prevent Seoul from concocting any idle thoughts.”
Inter-Korean relations are at one of their lowest points in recent years, with Pyongyang declaring South Korea its “main enemy”.
It discarded agencies dedicated to reunification and threatened war for “even 0.001 mm” of territorial violation.
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