North Korea-Russia, Military Technical Cooperation Suspended

“Military technical cooperation between North Korea and Russia has actually been suspended due to the North’s ill economic management,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Dmitriev was quoted as saying in Russian official Itartass News Agency report on October 22.

“Arms supply to North Korea should be proceeded in a commercial way, but it is hard to make large-scale military technical cooperation due to the North’s economic hardship,” said Deputy Defense Minister Dmitriev, who is now visiting Thailand and accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin who is participating in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) summit meeting.

With regards to the current situation of military technical cooperation between the North and Russia, Deputy Minister Dmitriev, concurrently chairman of Russia’s State Committee for Military Technical Cooperation, said, “The defense industry bodies are individually supplying parts of weapons provided to the North during the former Soviet Union.”

“Russia can supply North Korea with weapons in principle because U.S. sanctions don’t include North Korea, but there is a limit to supply (North) with offensive arms because we are cooperating with both South and North Korea,” Deputy Minister Dmitriev added.

Ki-Hyun Kim kimkihy@donga.com