North Korea says cooperation with Russia 'natural' for neighbours

25/9/2023 11:30

        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 U.N. General Assembly last week, said that if Russia helped North Korea enhance its weapons programmes in return for assistance for its war in Ukraine, it would be "a direct provocation."
        
        In a piece carried by KCNA news agency, the North denounced Yoon for "malignantly" slandering its friendly cooperation with Russia, and said Yoon was serving as a "loudspeaker" for the United States.
        
        "It is quite natural and normal for neighbouring countries to keep close relations with each other, and there is no reason to call such practice to account," it said.
        
        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.