JAKARTA - South Korea's foreign ministry said it summoned the Russian ambassador in protest over an agreement between Russia and North Korea signed in Pyongyang this week.
First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-Kyun conveyed Seoul's stance on the pact and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea to Georgy Zinoviev, Russia's main envoy to Seoul, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Kim told Zinoviev Russia's military support for North Korea jeopardized South Korea's security and would definitely have a negative impact on relations between Seoul and Moscow.
He also urged Russia to take action responsibly, according to the ministry.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the agreement as a serious threat to regional peace and stability, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement today.
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The two in a telephone conversation on Thursday, June 20, also discussed ways to respond to the summit between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and agreed to closely monitor the situation, the foreign ministry said.
Blinken said the US supported South Korea's response to the security threat. Under the agreement, Moscow and Pyongyang said each country would immediately provide military assistance if one of the countries faced armed aggression.
Cho said any cooperation to help strengthen North Korea's military capabilities was clearly a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to the statement.
"The United States will consider various ways to respond to threats to international peace and stability from Russia and North Korea," Blinken was quoted as saying by the ministry.
Cho also spoke by telephone with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and both expressed deep concern over the agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to the ministry.
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