North Korea denies selling weapons to Russia
US officials said earlier that Russia could purchase rockets and artillery shells from North Korea.
September 22, 2022, 8:27 am

North Korea denies selling weapons to Russia

A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva. (File photo Reuters)

North Korea on Thursday (Sep 22) said it has never sold weapons to Russia and has no plans to do so in the future.

This comes as US reports said that Moscow was turning to Pyongyang to replenish stockpiles, the BBC reported.

In a statement posted in the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a North Korean defense ministry official rejected the U.S. accusation.

“We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them,” said the vice director general of the North Korean defense ministry's General Bureau of Equipment, according to KCNA.

“We warn the U.S. to stop making reckless remarks pulling up the DPRK and to keep its mouth shut,” he added, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

US officials said earlier that Russia could purchase rockets and artillery shells from North Korea.

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25, 2019.

The officials such moves, along with alleged purchases of Iranian weapons, showed Western sanctions were impeding Russia's efforts in the Ukraine war.

Moscow denied the reports at the time.

Any arms movement between the two countries would be in violation of United Nations sanctions.

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On Thursday (Sep 22), in a statement carried by North Korean state media KCNA, an unnamed official at North Korea's defence ministry said: "We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them."

It accused the US, and other "hostile forces", of spreading rumours to "pursue its base political and military aims".

In early September, a US State Department spokesman said Russia's North Korean purchases "could include literally millions of rounds, rockets and artillery shells."

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But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later appeared to caveat that statement, by saying the purchases had not yet been completed and there was no evidence to suggest the weapons would be used in the Ukraine war.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February has proven costly for its military, despite using advanced weapons such as cruise missiles. Ukrainian forces, using Western weapons that have been funnelled into the country in recent months, have inflicted heavy losses.

Many of North Korea's Russian-designed weapons hail from the Soviet era, but it has missiles similar to Russian ones.

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In July, North Korea was one of the few countries that officially recognised two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. In retaliation, Ukraine cut off all diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.

Earlier this month, Russian president Vladimir Putin vowed to expand their "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations" in a letter to his

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