The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Actor Yoo Ah-in appears for questioning over alleged drug use

  • 3

    ANALYSISTesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK

  • 5

    Yoo Ah-in appears before police over alleged use of illegal drugs

  • 7

    One of two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon Int'l Airport nabbed

  • 9

    Dreams come true: TXT mesmerizes 21,000 fans at KSPO Dome

  • 11

    Chun Doo-hwan's grandson apprehended at Incheon Int'l Airport over drug use

  • 13

    Clock ticks for China's massive repatriation of N. Korean defectors

  • 15

    Gimpo-China flights recover to pre-pandemic levels

  • 17

    Actor Yoo Ah-in once again apologizes for alleged drug use

  • 19

    N. Korea fires 2 SRBMs toward East Sea; US aircraft carrier due in S. Korea for joint training

  • 2

    SK chief's estranged wife sues his new partner for compensation

  • 4

    4 young Nigerian siblings killed in house fire in Ansan

  • 6

    Revised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard

  • 8

    US aircraft carrier to visit Busan amid NK provocations

  • 10

    Will April releases revive Korean cinema? Films to look out for in April

  • 12

    Korean crypto investors want Do Kwon punished in US

  • 14

    TEMPLE ADVENTURESHaedong Yonggung Temple prospers on Busan's coast

  • 16

    Families of foreign construction workers can receive retirement pay: court

  • 18

    Korea to allow online permit-free entry for tourists from 22 nations to spur spending

  • 20

    Local bank stocks hit by shockwaves from SVB, CS collapses

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
North Korea
Wed, March 29, 2023 | 21:49
NK slams NATO chief's Seoul visit as 'prelude to war'
Posted : 2023-01-30 16:30
Updated : 2023-01-31 16:31
Nam Hyun-woo
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during the latter's visit to the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of presidential office
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during the latter's visit to the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of presidential office

Security grouping becoming conspicuous in Northeast Asia

By Nam Hyun-woo

North Korea criticized North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's visit to Seoul, calling it a prelude to war and an attempt to create an Asian version of NATO.

The condemnation was the latest in a series of hostile statements by Pyongyang against the U.S. decision to deliver tanks to Ukraine to assist Kyiv's war with Russia, showing that the North is seeking to benefit from the China-Russia bloc's confrontation against the trilateral security group of South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency, Monday, carried an article by Kim Tong-myong, a researcher at the North's association of international relations, which claimed that the NATO chief's trips to Seoul and Tokyo are "a prelude to war and confrontational behavior" bringing the "flame of a new Cold War to the Asia-Pacific region."

The researcher condemned Stoltenberg as the head of the military organization that turned Ukraine into a "theater of proxy war" and said "his arrival in the Asia-Pacific region, which is out of his operational scope, is raising concerns."

Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit, seeking to boost NATO's relations with Asian partners including South Korea and Japan.

The NATO chief was invited to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday and discussed expanded cooperation between the two sides in digital and emerging technologies, climate change and defense industries.

During the meeting, Yoon asked Stoltenberg and NATO to play "active roles" to deter North Korea's "reckless provocations."

Stoltenberg promised to bolster South Korea-NATO cooperation and lauded the expanding defense industry cooperation between the two sides. The NATO chief invited the South Korean leader to attend July's NATO Summit in Lithuania, and Yoon replied that he will consider it.

The North Korean researcher added that the Ukraine war is entering a new crisis following the U.S.' decision to deliver tanks to Kyiv, and that it is obvious that the NATO chief will coerce South Korea and Japan by talking about Chinese threats in order to call for the necessity of an Asian version of NATO, as well as putting pressure on them to provide weapons to Ukraine.

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during the latter's visit to the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of presidential office
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Vladivostok in this April 25, 2019, file photo. Yonhap

The North has recently been releasing statements critical of the U.S.' plan to assist Ukraine with tanks.

On Jan. 27, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the North will always be "in the same trench" with Russia and that the U.S. is exposing the entire European continent to war risks and crossing the red line with the tank issue.

Two days later, Kwon Jong-gun, director-general in charge of U.S. affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, denied allegations that the regime traded arms with Russia and claimed that "there would be no Ukraine war if the U.S. did not violate Russia's reasonable safety interests and pursue NATO's assertion in the East."

These recent moves are being interpreted as the North's effort to revitalize its relations with Russia to the level of the quasi-alliance it had during the Cold War era.

"Through the Ukraine war, North Korea seeks to improve Pyongyang-Moscow relations to that of the Cold War-era military alliance," said ruling People Power Party Rep. Tae Yong-ho, who is a former North Korean diplomat.

Tae said Russia became passive in providing military equipment to North Korea after the Cold War as Moscow did not need North Korean conventional weapons. However, the rising significance of conventional weapons in the Ukraine war is making Pyongyang an important weapons supplier for Moscow again.

"The current security dynamics of Northeast Asia is explained as a confrontation between a group of three nuclear states ― North Korea, China and Russia ― and a security bloc consisting of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, which are relying on the U.S.' nuclear capability," Tae said.


Emailnamhw@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Revised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guardRevised Japanese textbooks distort wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard
2Clock ticks for China's massive repatriation of N. Korean defectors Clock ticks for China's massive repatriation of N. Korean defectors
3Gold price nears all-time high amid financial jitters Gold price nears all-time high amid financial jitters
4BMW launches new XM BMW launches new XM
5Ramsar wetland in Han River cleaned up for protected birdlife Ramsar wetland in Han River cleaned up for protected birdlife
6Civic groups in Gwangju await meeting with Chun Doo-hwan's grandson Civic groups in Gwangju await meeting with Chun Doo-hwan's grandson
7North Korea unveils tactical nuclear warheads North Korea unveils tactical nuclear warheads
8CJ CheilJedang sees chicken as next big seller after frozen dumplingCJ CheilJedang sees chicken as next big seller after frozen dumpling
92024 budget to focus on tackling low birthrate 2024 budget to focus on tackling low birthrate
10Over 1,000 financially vulnerable Koreans apply for new emergency gov't loans Over 1,000 financially vulnerable Koreans apply for new emergency gov't loans
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Dreams come true: TXT mesmerizes 21,000 fans at KSPO Dome Dreams come true: TXT mesmerizes 21,000 fans at KSPO Dome
2Will April releases revive Korean cinema? Films to look out for in April Will April releases revive Korean cinema? Films to look out for in April
3'My ID is Gangnam Beauty' to be adapted into live action series in Thailand 'My ID is Gangnam Beauty' to be adapted into live action series in Thailand
4[INTERVIEW] Choi Min-sik, Lee Dong-hwi on creating Korean-style noir with 'Big Bet' INTERVIEWChoi Min-sik, Lee Dong-hwi on creating Korean-style noir with 'Big Bet'
5Ra Mi-ran, Lee Re to lead fantasy drama 'The Mysterious Candy Store' Ra Mi-ran, Lee Re to lead fantasy drama 'The Mysterious Candy Store'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group