SEOUL: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday condemned Nor­th Korea for sending arms to help the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he held meetings with top officials in key ally South Korea.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have in recent weeks repeatedly criticised Pyongyang for helping Russia pursue its military campaign in Ukraine, with Seoul saying North Korea has sent a million artillery rounds.

Blinken is in Seoul following a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan. He met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Thursday.

They “strongly condemned the provision of military equipment and munitions by the Democra­tic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the Russian Federation for use in its war against Ukraine”, the US State Department said in a readout of Blinken’s meeting with Yoon.

Earlier, Blinken met South Korean national security advisor Cho Tae-yong. He thanked Cho for South Korea’s “commitment to providing assistance to Ukraine”, according to a State Depart­ment readout.

Historic allies Russia and North Korea are both under international sanctions — the former for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

Their growing military cooperation has been a source of concern for Ukraine and its allies, especially following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.

South Korea has said Pyongyang is providing wea­pons in exchange for Russian space technology so that it can put a military spy satellite in orbit.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2023