South Korea, Russia hold talks in Moscow on North Korean nuclear, security issues

Seoul/Kyiv, Dec 21 South Korea and Russia recently held closed-doors talks in Moscow on North Korea's nuclear programme and other pressing regional security issues, diplomatic sources said Sunday.

According to the sources, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official handling North Korean nuclear issues recently travelled to Moscow for meetings with Oleg Burmistrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-large for the North Korean nuclear issue, and other relevant officials, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The South Korean official apparently asked Russia to play a constructive role in ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula, with Seoul looking to reopen dialogue with North Korea next year and efforts being made to end the war in Ukraine.

Given Russia's close ties with North Korea, South Korea likely believes Moscow can play a decisive role in ensuring Pyongyang's return to dialogue.

Except for the meeting between the two Foreign Ministers in September this year, the recent meeting was the first involving officials of Seoul and Moscow, concerned with the North Korean nuclear issue, since October 2024, when their bilateral relations took a turn for the worse due to North Korea's deployment of its troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.

South Korea also could have used the recent meeting to voice its concern about the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, which Seoul views as a potential security threat to the Korean Peninsula, as per the sources.

During its recent policy briefing to President Lee Jae Myung, the Foreign Ministry said it will closely monitor talks on ending the Ukraine war and seek a constructive role for Russia on issues related to the Korean Peninsula while making efforts to restore ties with Moscow.

The ministry also said it will continue diplomatic efforts to halt military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, which it described as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

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