At a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui accused the US and South Korea of conspiring to launch a nuclear attack on her country, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Choe did not provide evidence to support her claim, but recalled the regular consultations between Washington and Seoul where she believed this plot took place.
North Korea's foreign minister said the situation on the Korean Peninsula could become “explosive” at any moment and noted to Lavrov that North Korea must strengthen its nuclear arsenal and its readiness to launch a nuclear strike if necessary.
Choe arrived in Moscow earlier this morning, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The spokeswoman of the ministry, Maria Zakharova, published on her channel in “Telegram” photos of Choe being welcomed by Lavrov at a Moscow train station.
„Today in Moscow, negotiations will take place between the heads (of the foreign ministries) of Russia and the DPRK. "Sergei Lavrov welcomed his colleague with a bouquet of flowers," wrote Zakharova. “The meeting started at the “Yaroslavsky“ with the opening of a commemorative plaque on the occasion of Kim Il-sung's visit to the USSR in 1949”, she noted.
At the beginning of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov hailed the “close ties between the military and the security services” of Moscow and Pyongyang and said that they will make it possible to solve the security challenges of both countries.
The Russian Foreign Minister thanked North Korea for its “principled position” about the war in Ukraine.
Choe's visit, his second in six weeks, comes amid a new ballistic missile test by Pyongyang this week and reports from Washington that 10,000 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia, including 8,000 in Russia's Kursk region , where Ukrainian forces are conducting a military operation.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said yesterday that the US expects North Korean troops in the Kursk region to engage Ukrainian forces in the coming days.
Moscow neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean soldiers on its territory. President Vladimir Putin said it was up to Russia to decide how to implement the treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which also includes a mutual defense clause.