US concerned by Russia-North Korea ties and technology exchanges

By Luiza Ilie

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The United States is concerned by Russia’s growing relationship with North Korea and by what technology the two countries may be exchanging, the top U.S. arms control official said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Reuters in Bucharest at a forum on preventing nuclear and radiological terrorism, Under Secretary of State Bonnie Jenkins said the U.S. was working with Japan and South Korea to address those countries’ concerns about North Korea.

She echoed remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said in Brussels on Wednesday that Moscow’s relationship with Pyongyang was a two-way street, and that there was deep concern about what Russia was or may be doing to strengthen “North Korea’s capacity”, including its nuclear capacity.

“We don’t have anything definitive … in terms of nuclear technology going from Russia to the DPRK (North Korea), but obviously we have an overall concern about the developing relationship between the two countries,” Jenkins said in an interview in the Romanian capital.

“Not only because of what technology could be being transferred, but also just the growing relationship and the fact that the DPRK is assisting Russia, not only with their developing defense industrial base, but also obviously with the 10,000 troops or so that are in Russia right now.”

She was citing a figure provided this week by the Pentagon, which there were at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers in the Russian region of Kursk bordering Ukraine.

The Pentagon said it could not corroborate reports that North Koreans were fighting in Ukraine, which is seeking more arms from the U.S. amid concerns in Kyiv about U.S. policy on the war after Donald Trump is sworn in January.

COOPERATION WITH ASIAN COUNTRIES

NATO and U.S. officials have said North Korean support for Russia’s war economy showed how security challenges in Europe were linked to Asia and have underlined the need to further strengthen the alliance’s partnerships in the region.

“There’s working with like-minded countries to make it very obvious and very clear in the international community how much of a concern it is,” Jenkins said.

“But there are other things we’re also doing, we’re very much working with South Korea on our extended deterrence talks, with Japan as well, to shore up their concerns and make sure that they know they can rely on the U.S. for our ironclad commitments to them.”

Jenkins also said China had not yet responded to U.S. requests for concrete discussions on reducing nuclear risks as it builds up its arsenal.

“We don’t have yet the sustained dialogue that we would like with them,” she said. “They did notify a number of countries before a ballistic missile test that they did recently. That’s the type of thing that we’ve been asking them to do, pre-notifications.”

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Timothy Heritage)