South Korea, UNC member states demand end to North-Russia military cooperation

South Korea and 17 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) called on Russia and North Korea to “immediately cease” military cooperation at the command's second defense ministerial meeting in Seoul on Tuesday.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, sixth from left in the front row, and Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair, seventh from left in the front row, stand alongside officials from United Nations Command member states during the organization's second meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

South Korea and 17 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) called on Russia and North Korea to “immediately cease” military cooperation at the command's second defense ministerial meeting in Seoul on Tuesday.

The UNC was established during the 1950-53 Korean War and is responsible for enforcing the armistice that ended active hostilities on the peninsula.

This year’s meeting was jointly hosted by the South Korean and Canadian defense ministries and followed the first conference held in November last year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the signing of the truce.

In their joint statement, defense ministers and representatives from UNC member states expressed “serious concern over military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK, highlighted by the signing of the ‘Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.’”

DPRK refers to the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Representatives of UNC members “urged Russia and the DPRK to immediately cease all such activities,” which they noted included “weapons transactions and technological cooperation.”

South Korea and the United States believe that North Korea has supplied arms to Russia for use against Ukraine in exchange for fuel and technical assistance for its satellite and missile programs despite UN Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang from exporting its weapons.

Over the past year, officials in Ukraine have reported finding fragments of missiles and artillery shells fired by Russia that bear Korean-language markings, suggesting they were manufactured in the North.

During a highly publicized state visit to Pyongyang in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin sealed his growing ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with a bilateral partnership pact that included a mutual defense clause.

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, center, speaks during the opening ceremony of the South Korea-United Nations Command defense ministerial meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. Nils Hilmer, a state secretary in the German Defense Ministry, sits to the left, while Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair sits on the right. [NEWS1]

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told participants at the UNC ministerial meeting that North Korean weapons shipments to Russia have led to “cruel and fatal results in Ukraine” and called on “countries that share universal values of freedom and democracy” to respond with “strong solidarity.”

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair noted that the meeting’s participants are “united in condemning the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and the Russian Federation,” adding that “their deepening ties undercut the UN Security Council’s efforts to address the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, which threaten stability on the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific region.”

In their joint statement, South Korea and UNC member states further vowed to join together should South Korea come under attack and increase information sharing.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said last year that Seoul would seek to institutionalize regular meetings of defense ministers from UNC member states to reinforce the country’s multilateral security ties.

A total of 23 countries contributed troops or medical assistance under the aegis of the UNC during the Korean War.

The current 18-member command includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

Germany, which joined the UNC in August, was represented at Tuesday’s meeting by Nils Hilmer, a state secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Defense.

In his comments, Hilmer said that Germany’s membership in the UNC is a “clear signal of German solidarity in the region and of our support for the stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]