WASHINGTON: Ten countries and the EU called North Korea’s growing involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine a “dangerous expansion” on Monday (Dec 16), in a joint statement released by the United States.
Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to reinforce Russia’s war effort, including to the Kursk border region where Ukraine reported Monday that its fighters had killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers.
“Direct DPRK support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine marks a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official acronym.
The foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and the high representative of the European Union signed the release.
They also said that they were “deeply concerned about any political, military, or economic support that Russia may be providing to the DPRK’s illegal weapons programs, including weapons of mass destruction”.
