N.Korean envoy calls for cooperation with Russia to counter United States

[August 12, 2021]    SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea intends to strengthen cooperation with Russia to counter the United States, and peace on the Korean peninsula will not be possible until American troops are withdrawn, Pyongyang's ambassador to Russia told TASS news agency.

A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Picture

Ambassador Sin Hong-chol's comments come after senior North Korean leaders warned this week that South Korea and the United States would face repercussions  for their decision to go ahead with annual joint military drills.

The drills are a "rehearsal for war" and prove the United States is responsible for destabilising the situation, he told TASS in an interview published on Wednesday.

"We will also boost cooperation between North Korea and Russia with the view to counter the U.S., a common threat," Sin told TASS.

Around 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which left the peninsula in a technical state of war when fighting ended with an armistice rather than a peace agreement.

Washington and Seoul say the joint drills are defensive in nature.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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