Washington urges Moscow to follow UNSC resolutions ahead of Putin's Pyongyang visit

The U.S. State Department on Monday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to abide by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on North Korea amid media reports that he would visit the country later this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet in this file photo. [YONHAP]

The U.S. State Department on Monday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to abide by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on North Korea amid media reports that he would visit the country later this month.

“I think the one thing that is very clear is that the UNSC resolutions related to the DPRK are still in effect, and that everyone has an obligation to honor those UNSC resolutions, including Russia, who voted for the Security Council resolutions,” a State Department official said at a press briefing Monday in Washington.

“We, of course, will continue to call upon all countries, including Russia, to honor its international obligations and commitments with respect to the DPRK’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.”

The DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

A Russian media outlet reported Monday that Putin is expected to visit Pyongyang sometime this month before visiting Hanoi.

The international community is closely watching deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea.

“We will have to watch and see what happens if Putin does go and what comes out of it,” the U.S. State Department official said.

If Putin, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the Russian Far East just nine months ago, visits Pyongyang, it will be his first visit to North Korea in 24 years since July 2000, when Kim’s late father Kim Jong-il was leader. . Pyongyang and Moscow have been intensifying their military cooperation recently, with Washington accusing North Korea of having shipped over 10,000 containers of munitions or material to Russia since September last year.

North Korea, in return, has been seeking assistance from Russia in procuring ballistic missile technology, according to U.S. officials.

Regarding heightening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, Richard Johnson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and countering weapons of mass destruction policy, voiced concern about Moscow potentially providing Pyongyang with weapons and advanced technologies, including surface-to-air missiles.

“We are extremely concerned with this collaboration and cooperation that we see with Russia and the DPRK,” Johnson said during a forum hosted by the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “We are also concerned that Russia may be helping the DPRK in a range of areas, including surface-to-air missiles, production equipment for ballistic missiles or material, or other advanced technologies. So we have to keep a very close eye on this.”

Johnson further reiterated that the United States' top priority remains the “complete” and “verifiable” denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]