TOKYO: Kim Jong-gyu, North Korea’s Deputy Minister for Russia, on Friday avoided directly confirming the dispatch of North Korean troops to help Russia in Ukraine but alluded to it in his response, while another North Korean official pointed out how other countries had interfered in Korean affairs.

“I paid attention to the theory of sending troops from our army to Russia, which has recently been publicized by the international press,” he said. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not directly involved in the Ministry of Defense, and we do not feel the need to confirm it separately. If there is such a thing that the international press is currently making a fuss about, I think it is a behavior that conforms to international legal norms.”

He acknowledged that “certain forces wanted to describe it as illegal,” before adding, “The United States will take full responsibility for driving the situation on the Korean Peninsula into an uncontrollable situation.”

On Saturday, the Director of the Foreign Policy Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed up with his own statement.

“Extreme tensions continue on the Korean Peninsula due to South Korea’s major provocations against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he said. “The United States, which brought the Australian Air Force to the Korean Peninsula from the 21st and began the large-scale Freedom Flag joint air exercise with the war-mongering South Korean military, said the purpose of the training was aimed at (North Korea).”

He described the exercises as an “aggression” and “a pre-emptive and extremely dangerous military provocation aimed at a surprise strike against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

“The hostile actions of the United States, which are obsessed with reckless military demonstrations with allies, are obvious threats and serious provocations to regional security,” he said. “The United States can never cover up its criminal identity that is driving the situation on the Korean Peninsula out of control.”

He expressed anger at “the confrontational behavior of the United States,” which, he says, is inciting the “belligerent madness of its allies through frequent strategic asset deployment and constant joint military exercises.” 

He concluded: “If a situation arises on the Korean Peninsula that no one wants, the entire responsibility will be borne by the United States, the main culprit of the intensification of the regional situation.”