North Korea promises to stand up to Russia until it 'victories' in Ukraine | Russia-Ukraine war News

Pyongyang's top official also tells his Russian counterpart of the US and South Korea of ​​a 'nuclear plot' against North Korea.

North Korea will support Russia until it succeeds in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in Moscow as the United States warned that thousands of Pyongyang soldiers are on the border with Ukraine and may be sent to war.

In his Friday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Choe also accused the US and South Korea of ​​planning a nuclear strike against his country.

“Our traditional, historically friendly relations, which have walked the tested path of history, today … rise to a new level of invincible military relations,” he said, praising the role played by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said North Korea has no doubt that under Putin's “wise leadership” the Russian army and people will “achieve a great victory in their holy struggle to protect the sovereign rights and security interests of their state”.

“We also confirm that until the day of victory we will stand firmly by our Russian comrades,” Choe said.

Lavrov spoke of the “very close relationship” between the militaries of the two countries and said that this enabled them to solve important security tasks together.

The two did not address statements by the leaders of Ukraine, South Korea and their Western allies that Pyongyang has sent up to 10,000 North Korean troops to Russia to fight in Ukraine.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that approximately 8,000 North Korean troops were in the Kursk area, where Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Russia in a surprise attack in August, and that he expects them to fight against Ukraine in August. days to come.

“We are very grateful to our Korean friends for their principled position regarding the events that have taken place in Ukraine due to the course of the West to push NATO further east and encourage an openly racist regime to eliminate everything Russian,” Lavrov said.

Choe told Lavrov that the situation on the Korean Peninsula could “explode” at any time, given the threats from Washington and Seoul, but did not provide any evidence to support his allegations.

He said North Korea needs to strengthen its nuclear arsenal and perfect its readiness to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if necessary.

On Thursday, Pyongyang confirmed it had launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward waters off its east coast in what was the longest flight by a North Korean missile, South Korean and Japanese officials said, raising fears of an advanced weapons development. independent nation.

Kim was present at the launch of the missile test and issued a warning to his enemies as he described it as showing his country's determination to deal with external threats to North Korea's security, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

On Friday, North Korea boasted that the ICBM it launched was “the most powerful missile in the world” and identified it as the Hwasong-19.