Seoul, June 5 (IANS) North Korea on Thursday denounced French President Emmanuel Macron for criticising the North’s troop dispatch to Russia over the war against Ukraine.

During a keynote speech at the Shangri-La security forum in Singapore last week, Macron said China should prevent North Korea from being engaged on European soil if Beijing does not want the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be involved in Asia.

Macron had stated that the NATO defence alliance could intervene in Asia if China does not do more to persuade North Korea to stop sending forces to assist Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A North Korean security expert on international affairs took issue with Macron’s speech, describing it as “a paradox just like a guilty party filing the suit first,” reports Yonhap, quoting the Korean Central News Agency.

“Quite contrary to the claim of Macron, the armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea did not ‘intervene’ in Europe but participated in the righteous liberation operations to repel the Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces who invaded the territory of the ally,” the analyst said.

The expert claimed “normal” military cooperation between the North and Russia can neither be a subject of criticism nor a pretext for NATO’s military interference in the Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to “unconditionally” support Russia over the war against Ukraine and “responsibly” observe the articles of a mutual defence treaty signed between Pyongyang and Moscow, the North’s state media reported.

Kim made the remarks during his meeting with Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu the previous day in Pyongyang.

Shoigu, Russia’s top security official, arrived in North Korea on Wednesday, amid deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, highlighted by the North’s troop dispatch to Russia to support the war against Ukraine.

During the meeting, Kim affirmed that North Korea will “unconditionally support the stand of Russia and its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues, including the Ukrainian issue,” according to the KCNA.

Kim also said his country will “responsibly observe the articles of the treaty” between the two nations, it reported, referring to the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed by him and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June last year in Pyongyang.

During the talks, both sides “confirmed the consensus” of the two nations’ stance on the Ukraine situation and pledged to develop the bilateral ties into the “powerful and comprehensive relations of strategic partnership.”

Kim and Shoigu discussed prospects for rebuilding the Kursk front-line region and specific steps to “commemorate the memory of North Korean soldiers’ feat,” Russia’s news agency Tass reported Wednesday, citing Russia’s Security Council.

Seoul’s unification ministry said the agenda items probably included North Korea’s dispatch of additional troops to Russia, ceasefire negotiations underway for the Ukraine war and Kim’s potential trip to Russia.

–IANS

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