TAIPEI, Taiwan – G7 foreign ministers called on China to oppose North Korea’s growing military ties with Russia, while NATO recommended its members employ diplomatic and economic levers to discourage Beijing from aiding Moscow.
China, one of North Korea’s few traditional allies, has recently been under growing pressure to serve as a responsible stakeholder as the United States and its allies worry that the deployment of North Korean troops will dangerously escalate the Ukrainian war.
“We are seriously concerned about the deployment of the DPRK’s troops to Russia and their use on the battlefield against Ukraine … We urge countries with ties to Russia and the DPRK, including China, to uphold international law by opposing this dangerous expansion of the conflict and implementing all relevant UNSC resolutions,” foreign ministers of the Group of Seven said in a statement on Tuesday.
DPRK refers to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, while UNSC is short for the U. N. Security Council.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the increasing military cooperation between DPRK and Russia, including DPRK’s export and Russia’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions in direct violation of relevant UNSC Resolutions, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles and munitions against Ukraine,” they added.
Separately, NATO recommended its members discourage China through diplomacy from aiding Russia.
“It [the NATO Parliamentary Assembly] recommended employing diplomatic and economic levers to discourage China from aiding Russia,” the security bloc’s assembly said on Tuesday.
“The Assembly called for tightening sanctions on Russia and North Korea, citing Pyongyang’s growing military support for Moscow,” it added.
In a video message to the assembly, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte sought support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and its allies.
“There’s war in Europe. We see China, Iran, North Korea and Russia joining forces to undermine us, and threats continue to transcend borders, from terrorism to cyber attacks. So it is vital that NATO becomes stronger, more capable and more agile,” Rutte said.
China has not commented on North Korea’s deployment except to say the development of relations between Russia and North Korea was solely for them to decide.
U.S. President Joe Biden, during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Peru on Nov. 16, condemned North Korea’s decision to send its troops to Russia to assist in the war against Ukraine, while expressing “deep concern over [China’s] continued support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”
At that time, Xi said that China’s position regarding the war had “always been fair and square,” adding Beijing would “not allow conflict and turmoil to happen on the Korean Peninsula” and that it would “not sit idly by” while its strategic interests are endangered.
RELATED STORIES
North Korea sent 100 ballistic missiles to Russia: Ukraine
Seoul confirms casualties among North Korean troops in Russia
Seoul confirms North Korea’s additional export of artillery to Russia
The U.S. and South Korea have said that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian forces occupied in early August.
Washington has estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Kursk and had begun combat operations alongside Russian forces.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of North Korean troops.
But South Korea’s main security agency confirmed on Monday that it had “specific intelligence” that North Korean forces in Russia had suffered casualties, though it gave no figures. Media reported that 500 North Koreans and one high-level North Korean official had been killed in a Ukrainian attack with British missiles last week.
Ukraine also said North Korea had sent more than 100 ballistic missiles to Russia, along with military specialists, to support its war with Ukraine.
Edited by Mike Firn.