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Russia's UN ambassador criticizes military cooperation between South Korea, U.S, Japan

Published: 01 May. 2026, 13:27

MICHAEL LEE
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Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya speaks during a Security Council meeting in New York on April 30. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, described North Korea as his country's “close neighbor and partner” at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York on Thursday, where he also sharply criticized military cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan.

Speaking at the session on nuclear nonproliferation and North Korea, Nebenzya insisted that cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang in “military and other fields” poses “no threat to the international community.” He also defended North Korea’s reported troop deployment to Russia as being “in accordance with Article 4 of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Russia and North Korea.”

His remarks run counter to UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as illegal aggression. North Korea’s involvement in the conflict is likewise widely viewed by diplomatic observers as unlawful.

Nebenzya also took aim at last month’s joint South Korea-United States air exercise, warning that such drills could evolve into a “nuclear alliance modeled on NATO” if expanded to include Japan.

“The United States, South Korea and Japan possess some of the largest military budgets in the world and maintain the most advanced and destructive military equipment at the highest level of readiness,” he said, arguing that “the North Korean leadership had no choice but to seek solutions to guarantee its national security.”

North Korea’s representative to the United Nations, Kim Song, speaks during a Security Council meeting in New York on April 30. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

North Korea’s representative to the UN, Kim Song, struck a similarly combative tone, denouncing the now-defunct UN Panel of Experts as “a politically motivated, conspiratorial group” and criticizing the UNSC for convening “another unreasonable meeting convened to justify illegal sanctions and pressure” on Pyongyang.

Russia, a permanent member of the UNSC, vetoed the renewal of the panel’s mandate in March 2024, dismantling a key mechanism for monitoring sanctions violations. In response, South Korea, the United States and Japan launched a separate multilateral monitoring initiative.

James Byrne, chief executive of the Open Source Centre, presented satellite imagery showing what he described as a “clear pattern of activity” involving vessels loading prohibited cargo in North Korea.

“This is not a series of isolated incidents. It is an ongoing pattern of UN sanctions violations,” Byrne said.

James Byrne, CEO of the non-profit Open-Source Centre, briefs the Security Council during its meeting on nonproliferation and North Korea in New York on April 30. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Jennifer Locetta, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN, said the evidence presented by Byrne was “irrefutable” in showing vessels loading North Korean coal and iron ore and shipping them abroad “in direct violation of this Council’s resolutions.”

Warning that such trade directly funds Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, she said Washington “will not stand by while [these ships] operate with impunity” and will move to blacklist the vessels involved.

She also urged the sanctions committee “to act without delay,” arguing that ignoring violations would amount to “a deliberate choice to enable the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program.”

Efforts to impose additional sanctions through the UNSC, however, have been blocked by repeated Russian vetoes.

Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s under secretary general for political and peacebuilding affairs, urged North Korea “to fully comply with its international obligations” and called on member states to “abide by the relevant UNSC sanctions.”

South Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Cha Ji-hoon, reiterated Seoul’s concerns over Pyongyang’s continued defiance of international norms.

Cha Ji-hoon, South Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council during its meeting on nonproliferation and North Korea in New York on April 30. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“North Korea is persistently advancing its nuclear weapons and missile programs in defiance of its international obligations,” he said. “At its recent party congress, North Korea declared itself a nuclear weapons state — a status that can never be accepted by the international community.”

Cha added that North Korea has conducted six ballistic missile launches this year in violation of UNSC resolutions, including a recent test of a short-range missile equipped with cluster munitions, which he said posed “a clear threat to the Korean Peninsula and the international community.”

He also emphasized that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s North Korea policy rests on “a firm commitment to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and denuclearization.”

Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, called on Washington to acknowledge what he described as its “historical responsibility” for the current impasse.

Fu also urged the United States to exercise “restraint,” particularly in regard to military exercises in and around the peninsula.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE YU-JUNG, MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]