After Russia and Syria, North Korea has formally recognised the two Russian-backed breakaway “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine as independent states, a separatist leader claimed and the North’s official news agency reported on Wednesday (July 13).
North Korean state media KCNA reported that the North Korean government sent letters Wednesday to the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Lugansk.
As quoted by the news agencies, Pyongyang said that it “decided to recognise the independence of both the regions”. In the letter, it also expressed the will to develop state-to-state relations with those countries.
Russia ordered the invasion of its neighbouring nation Ukraine this year on February 24 and termed it a “special military operation”. It recognised the areas as independent shortly before the invasion. On the other hand, Syria made the diplomatic move last month.
The DPR’s Embassy in Moscow posted a photo on its Telegram channel of a ceremony in which North Korea’s ambassador to Moscow, Sin Hong-chol, handed a certificate of recognition to DPR envoy Olga Makeyeva.
Ukraine slams North Korea
The Ukrainian foreign ministry slammed the move. In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said that North Korea’s decision to recognise territories Kyiv described as “temporarily occupied by Russia”.
“In response… Ukraine announces it is cutting diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the statement said.
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