- Amid tensions over the detainment of an American soldier in North Korea, a Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang.
- Moscow and Pyongyang have been long-time allies after the former lent support to North Korea during the Korean War.
- Pyongyang has fired several ballistic missiles into its eastern sea in weapons testing.
- The issue has been further complicated after US Soldier Private Travis King illegally entered North Korea last week and was detained.
- North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said.
Amid tensions over the detainment of an American soldier in North Korea, a Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang, according to the defense ministry in Moscow, reported TASS news agency. A Chinese delegation will also arrive in North Korea later this week.
As per the report, the delegation will participate in festivities dedicated toward the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. “This visit will help strengthen Russian-North Korean ties and will be a milestone in the development of cooperation between the two countries,” said the Ministry.
The visit was also announced by the North Korean media. Moscow and Pyongyang have been long-time allies after the former lent support to North Korea during the Korean War in the 1960s and their shared animosity towards the West.
Meanwhile, Chinese Communist Party official Li Hongzhong, who is part of the party’s central policymaking committee will also lead a delegation to Pyongyang later this week.
These visits come amid rising tensions between North Korea and the United States, as well as its ally, South Korea. Pyongyang has fired several ballistic missiles into its eastern sea in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the US sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force.
The Koreas are still technically at war since a peace treaty was never signed. The US, which fought alongside the South Koreans and other allies during the war, never established diplomatic relations with the North.
The issue has been further complicated after US Soldier Private Travis King illegally entered North Korea last week and was detained. North Korea has remained publicly silent about King, who crossed the border during a tour of Panmunjom while he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said Tuesday, adding to a recent streak in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the US sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force. In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles consecutively between around 11:55 p.m. local time Monday and midnight from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Last week, the USS Kentucky became the first US nuclear-armed submarine to come to South Korea since the 1980s. North Korea reacted to its arrival by test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles last week in apparent demonstrations that it could make nuclear strikes against South Korea and deployed US naval vessels. Also on Monday, the American-led UN Command said it has started “a conversation” with North Korea about a US soldier who ran into the North last week across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders.
(With inputs from agencies)
