North Korea denies supplying Russia weapons, warns US crossing ‘red line’ by sending battle tanks to Ukraine

North Korea has denied US claims that the country is providing weapons to Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine.

In a statement to the Korean Central News Agency, US Department of State Director-General Kwon Jong Gun accused the US of foolishly trying to justify the “baseless rumour” of an arms deal between the DPRK and Russia. Offer of arms to Ukraine.”

FILE: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an air defense unit in the western region, North Korea. On Thursday, December 30, 2021, the North urged its 1.2 million troops to unite behind leader Kim and defend their lives, as the country celebrated the 10th anniversary of his ascension as supreme commander of the military.
(Korea News Service via Korean Central News Agency/AP, File)

“It is an illegal act to question the legitimate right of national defense of a sovereign state,” he said. “Moreover, trying to tarnish the DPRK’s image by fabricating a non-existent thing is a grave provocation that can never be allowed and cannot happen without triggering a reaction.”

President Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of arguments by Washington that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.

North Korea condemns US President Joe Biden’s decision to send battle tanks to Ukraine

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a member of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, said the US was crossing a “red line” by sending tanks to Ukraine, according to Yonhap news agency. a South Korean media outlet.

FILE: A US Army M1A1 Abrams tank opens fire during the NATO Advanced Forward Presence Battle Group military exercise Crystal Arrow 2021 in Adazi, Latvia.
(Reuters/Ints Kalnins/File photo)

Kwon said the US decision to send the tanks reflected the country’s alleged “perverse and gangster-like” thinking “which often introduces nuclear strikes into the Korean Peninsula under the pretext of providing ‘extended deterrence’ against any ‘provocation’ “

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“The US should be careful that it will indeed face undesirable consequences if it continues to spread self-made rumors against the DPRK,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.