North Korea issued a statement branding the U.S. as an “evil empire” responsible for the war in Ukraine and repeating its support for Russia on Thursday, the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion.
“The hegemonic policy pursued by the U.S. and the West … compelled Russia to start preemptive military actions to fundamentally remove the external military threats to it,” international affairs critic Kim Yu Chol said in a commentary published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday.
Claiming that NATO’s “advance into the East” is aimed at “encircling” and weakening Russia, Kim said that Kyiv should have sought reconciliation and unity with its neighbor rather than “jumping on the bandwagon” of U.S.-Russia rivalry.
“The U.S., which was born of aggression and fattened by war, is an evil empire that does not hesitate to violate the safety and interests of not only hostile countries but also allies for its own self-interest,” the statement said.
While lower level than statements directly attributed to a foreign ministry official, the commentary underscores North Korea’s consistent support for Russia’s stance that the war is a natural consequence of Western involvement in Ukraine. This support has seen the long-time allies draw even closer as Pyongyang continues to echo the Kremlin’s talking points, including describing the invasion as a “special military operation” in the latest statement.
Days after the war began, North Korea blamed the “hegemonic policy” of the U.S and West for “threatening” Russia’s peace and stability and destroying “the environment of security in Europe.”
Pyongyang also previously parroted Vladimir Putin’s justification for the war by saying that Moscow simply sought the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine, despite the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish himself. Thursday’s KCNA statement reiterated this claim, alleging that “under the instigation of the U.S.” Kyiv has worked to revive Nazism.
Washington has also accused the DPRK of going beyond rhetoric by supplying arms to Russia for the Ukraine war on several occasions, although Pyongyang has repeatedly denied these allegations.
North Korea’s condemnation of the U.S. lines up with the narratives from Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang that Washington and its allies are to blame for increasing tensions in Asia and Europe.
Russia and China have also continued to criticize U.S.-led military drills around the Korean Peninsula and block new sanctions and statements of condemnation against North Korea at the U.N.
Meanwhile, North Korea was one of only seven countries that voted against a U.N. resolution Thursday calling on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and cease hostilities. The DPRK’s representative once again blamed Washington for the conflict and denied Pyongyang sold arms to Russia, instead claiming that South Korea seeks to send weapons to Ukraine.
Source : NKNews
