Military interaction with N Korea doesn’t breach int’l law: Russia UN envoy

US and South Korean defence chiefs call on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia.

Russia’s military interaction with North Korea does not violate international law, the country’s representative to the United Nations told the UN Security Council, calling reports that North Korean troops were present at the front lines in the war against Ukraine “barefaced lies”.

“I would like to underscore that the Russian interaction with DPRK in the military and other areas is in line with international law and is not a violation of it. It’s not aimed against third countries,” Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, using the acronym of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

This came on the same day the United States and South Korean defence chiefs called for North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia, where Washington says some 10,000 of them have been deployed for possible use against Ukrainian forces.

“I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon, speaking alongside his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, who urged the “immediate withdrawal” of Pyongyang’s forces.

Austin said the US will “continue to work with allies and partners to discourage Russia from employing these troops in combat”, but warned Moscow is likely to do so.