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

Pyongyang’s ambassador to Russia told TASS news agency that North Korea plans to strengthen cooperation with Russia to counter the US, and that peace on the Korean peninsula will not be feasible until American forces are evacuated.

Ambassador Sin Hong-remarks chol’s came after senior North Korean leaders warned this week that going through with annual joint military drills would have consequences for South Korea and the US.

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.