ロシア代表団が平壌訪問 金氏、資源相と会談

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】北朝鮮の朝鮮中央通信（ＫＣＮＡ）は、金正恩（キム・ジョンウン）朝鮮労働党総書記が１８日、ロシアのアレクサンドル・コズロフ天然資源環境相と首都平壌で会談したと報じた。コズロフ氏は「貿易・経済・科学技術協力」に関する政府間パネルに参加する代表団を率いて訪朝した。（写真は北朝鮮の首都平壌の朝鮮労働党中央委員会本部で、会談に臨む金正恩同党総書記〈右〉とロシアのアレクサンドル・コズロフ天然資源環境相）
　またＫＣＮＡは、ロシア軍事アカデミーの代表団も平壌に到着したと伝えた。具体的な訪問目的には触れていない。
　今年に入って軍事関係を強化している両国は今月、相互防衛を盛り込んだ「包括的戦略パートナーシップ条約」を批准した。
　一方、韓国と米国は、北朝鮮がウクライナ紛争でロシア軍を支援するために１万人以上の兵士を派遣したと非難している。専門家は派兵の狙いについて、戦闘経験を積むことや、ロシア軍の先進技術を習得することにあると指摘している。
　西側諸国はまた、北朝鮮による派兵の見返りに、ロシアが北朝鮮の核兵器開発計画を進展させる技術支援を提供しているのではないかと懸念している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/11/19-19:05）

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russia's natural resources minister in Pyongyang, state media said Tuesday, as visiting delegations from Moscow highlighted deepening ties amid the Ukraine war.
Kim met Monday with Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov, who is leading a delegation focused on cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
A delegation from a Russian military academy also arrived in the North Korean capital, KCNA said, without providing details about the visit.
The United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with experts saying Kim was eager to gain advanced technology, and battle experience for his troops, in return.
Putin and Kim signed a strategic partnership treaty in June, during the Kremlin chief's visit to North Korea.
It obligates both states to provide military assistance without delay in the case of an attack on the other and to cooperate internationally to oppose Western sanctions.
Putin hailed the deal in June as a breakthrough document.
Last week, Pyongyang said it had ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, after Russian lawmakers voted unanimously in favour of the deal, which Putin later signed.
Noting the new treaty, Kim said his meeting with Kozlov was aimed at further promoting trade as well as scientific and technological exchange, according to KCNA.
The North Korean leader added the two countries' relations have reached a new strategic level.
In exchange for North Korea's sending troops, the West fears Russia is offering technological support that could advance Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
The reclusive state recently fired a salvo of ballistic missiles and tested a new solid-fuel ICBM, while Washington has said North Korean troops have begun combat operations alongside Russian forces.
- Foreign policy realignment? -
Experts say Pyongyang could be using Ukraine as a means of realigning its foreign policy.
By sending soldiers, North Korea is positioning itself within the Russian war economy as a supplier of weapons, military support and labor ? potentially even bypassing its traditional ally, neighbor and main trading partner, China, according to analysts.
Russia can also provide North Korea access to its vast natural resources, such as oil and gas, they say.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui recently visited Moscow and said her country would stand firmly by our Russian comrades until victory day.
She called Moscow's offensive against Ukraine a sacred struggle and said Pyongyang believed in Putin's wise leadership.
When asked publicly about the deployment of North Korean troops last month, Putin did not deny it, instead deflecting the question to criticise the West's support of Ukraine.
North Korea said last month that any troop deployment to Russia would be an act conforming with the regulations of international law, but stopped short of confirming it had sent soldiers.