(20 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seoul – 20 June 2024
1. Various of South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lim Soo-suk entering
2. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lim Soo-suk, South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:
"We express our regret over Russia and North Korea signing a comprehensive strategic partnership and publicly mentioning cooperation on military technology, which violates UN Security Council Resolutions, despite repeated warnings from the international community including us (South Korea)."
3. Wide of briefing
4. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lim Soo-suk, South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:
"Based on close evaluation and analysis of the results of (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s) recent visit to North Korea, including the signing of the comprehensive strategic partnership, we, along with our allies and the international community, will respond firmly and accordingly to any acts that threaten our national security."
5. Various of Lim leaving
STORYLINE:
A South Korean government spokesperson said on Thursday that the country regretted the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership between North Korea and Russia on Wednesday.
"We express our regret over Russia and North Korea signing a comprehensive strategic partnership and publicly mentioning cooperation on military technology, which violates UN Security Council Resolutions, despite repeated warnings from the international community including us (South Korea)," said South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lim Soo-suk.
"We, along with our allies and the international community, will respond firmly and accordingly to any acts that threaten our national security," Lim added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un signed the partnership that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked, during a Pyongyang summit on Wednesday that came as both face escalating standoffs with the West.
Kim and Putin described the deal as a major upgrade of bilateral relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.
Outside observers said it could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday reported the language of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.
The agency said Article 4 of the agreement states that if one of the countries gets invaded and is pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.”
But it also says that such actions must be in accordance with the laws of both countries and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes a U.N. member state’s right to self-defense.
The summit between Kim and Putin came as the U.S. and its allies expressed growing concern over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
AP video shot by Yong Jun Chang
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