North Korea on Tuesday denied that US claims that it had arms dealings with Russia and said that it had no plans to do so.
In a statement broadcast by the country’s state agency KCNA, the nation said: “We once again make clear that we have never had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia and that we have no plan to do so in the future.”
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The White House’s national security spokesman John Kirby had claimed last week that shipments of artillery from North Korea to Russia were being disguised as going to the Middle East or Africa.
The criticism comes after the North conducted a number of weapons tests following the largest-ever air force exercises by the US and South Korea. Pyongyang in a statement on Monday referred to the drills as “open provocation,” and threatened to respond to them with “sustained, resolute, and overwhelming” military actions.
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According to KCNA, a statement from North Korea’s vice director of military foreign affairs of the Ministry of National Defence read: “Recently, the US is persistently spreading a groundless ‘rumour of arms dealings’ between the DPRK and Russia.”
The statement as per AFP further says that North Korea views the “rumour” as an element of the US’ “hostile attempt to tarnish the DPRK’s image in the international arena.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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