North Korea says cooperation with Russia ‘natural’, slams South Korea’s Yoon as ‘diplomatic idiot’

North Korea slammed South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for criticising its cooperation with Moscow following Kim Jong-un’s Russia visit
US and South Korean officials have expressed concern that Russia could be trying to acquire ammunition from North Korea for the war in Ukraine

North Korea

Reuters

Published: 7:17am, 25 Sep 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

North Korea on Monday slammed South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for criticising its cooperation with Moscow following leader Kim Jong-un’s Russia visit, saying it is “natural” and “normal” for neighbours to keep close relations.

Yoon, speaking at the UN General Assembly last week, said that if Russia helped North Korea enhance its weapons programmes in return for help for its war in Ukraine, it would be “a direct provocation”.

In a commentary, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency denounced Yoon for “malignantly” slandering its friendly cooperation with Russia, and said Yoon was serving as a “loudspeaker” for the United States.

04:28

North Korea releases 90-minute documentary on leader Kim Jong-un’s trip to Russia

Without addressing the worries about a possible weapons deal with Russia, KCNA said it’s “quite natural” and a “legitimate right” for neighbouring countries to keep close ties with each other.

“No one in the world would lend an ear to the hysteric fit of puppet traitor Yoon Suk-yeol, who is only wearing disgraceful ill fames of ‘political immature’, ‘diplomatic idiot’ and ‘incompetent chief executive’,” KCNA said. “It’s self-evident that such a guy with a trash-like brain cannot understand the profound and enormous meaning of the development of [North Korea]-Russia friendly relations.”

Koo Byoungsam, a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said the KCNA insults demonstrated North Korea’s “substandard system that lacks basic etiquette and common sense.”

Since taking office last year, Yoon, a conservative former prosecutor, has sought to strengthen South Korea’s military and security alliance with the US.

Kim returned home last week from a week-long trip to Russia in which he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to boost military and economic cooperation.

US and South Korean officials have expressed concern that Russia could be trying to acquire ammunition from the North to supplement its dwindling stocks for the war in Ukraine while Pyongyang seeks technological help for its nuclear and missile programmes.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at the UN General Assembly in New York last week. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Any activities assisting North Korea’s weapons programmes are banned under UN Security Council resolutions.

“The foreign policy of the DPRK … will not be tied to anything, and its friendly and cooperative relations with the close neighbours will continue to grow stronger,” the commentary said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is the North’s official name.

North Korea is notorious for using crude invectives against South Korean and US leaders. It called previous South Korean Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye “a rat” and “a prostitute”, respectively. It described former US President Donald Trump as “a mentally deranged US dotard” and called Barack Obama a monkey.

Additional reporting by Associated Press