Russia, South Korea hold tense regional security talks in Seoul

Ankara, Turkey - Russia and South Korea said on Sunday that they discussed regional security and other ‘pending issues’ amid a chasm of differences between the two countries and escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

In a visit to Seoul, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko held talks with his South Korean counterpart Chung Byung-won on Friday and ‘addressed the Ukrainian war and bilateral ties’, Yonhap News reported, citing a statement by South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

Chung expressed Seoul’s ‘stern stance’ on Russia’s ‘growing military cooperation with North Korea’ and called for Moscow’s ‘responsible behaviour’, according to the South Korean news agency.

He also urged Moscow’s cooperation to ‘ prevent any infringement on the legitimate rights’ of South Korean firms and citizens in Russia.

During his visit, Rudenko also held talks with South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, Kim Gunn, as well as Kim Hong-kyun, the country’s special envoy for peace and security affairs on the Korean Peninsula. Kim called on Moscow to ‘strictly comply with its obligations to UN Security Council resolutions, including the immediate cessation of its military ties with Pyongyang that threatens the security of the Korean Peninsula and Europe’.

In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow intends continue developing cooperation with North Korea ‘in the interests of both countries and their peoples, as well as strengthening peace and stability in the region’.

It said that in Seoul, Rudenko exchanged views with officials about the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeastern Asia, as well as on bilateral relations, expressing Moscow’s ‘serious concerns regarding the sharp escalation of tensions in the subregion’. “It was clearly stated that its main source is the irresponsible provocative policy of Washington, which is trying to encourage regional allies to implement their aggressive plans, fraught with unpredictable consequences, including in the military sphere,” it added.