As a result of the recent warming of relations between Russia and North Korea, a senior US ambassador has cautioned that Pyongyang may feel more confident in asserting its influence internationally.
As the senior State Department representative for North Korea, Deputy Assistant Secretary Jung Pak told Bloomberg on Monday that North Korea might be more likely to threaten its southern neighbor, export weapons overseas, and reject calls from the United States to resume denuclearization negotiations if Moscow were to “completely embrace” the country.
Pak asserted that North Korean arms shipments to Russia, which are purportedly being utilized in the conflict in Ukraine, were the catalyst for the strengthening of the already tight relations between Moscow and Pyongyang. Reports of such supplies have been denied by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who claims there is no supporting data for them. North Korean officials have reiterated this position.
The US official claims that Pyongyang has greatly benefited from this cooperation, including high-profile encounters with Russian officials and economic help.
According to Pak, Washington is “concerned about what that might do to make Kim think that his leash is longer than it really is, and how that might figure into Kim’s risk calculus.” This might give North Korea a “luster of legitimacy that it does not deserve, and it should not have.”
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Pak further asserted that North Korea had profited from Russia’s move to veto a resolution last month in the UN Security Council to expand the authority of an expert panel keeping tabs on Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons. Peskov clarified that Moscow had opposed to the “modalities” outlined in the paper and that the resolution was “no longer in our interests.”
The US official expressed fear that “other bad actors” would be lured to buy North Korea’s weapons by its newfound legitimacy. North Korea has a lengthy history of spreading over Africa, the Middle East, and other regions. Furthermore, we don’t want that to develop into other partnerships that lead to proliferation,” she stated. Even though there have been strong links between Russia and North Korea since the Soviet Union’s dissolution, these relationships have lately gained momentum after President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jongun met in Russia’s Far East last year to discuss bilateral relations and the global agenda.
North Korea has denounced what it dubbed “reckless” drills by the US and South Korea in the area, carried out multiple missile tests, and escalated its rhetoric against the West in recent weeks.
