Senior officials of South Korea and the United States held an emergency phone call over a possible impending visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea, Seouls foreign ministry said on Friday (June 14).South Koreas vice foreign minister, Kim Hong-kyun, in the phone call with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, said that Putins visit should not result in deeper military co-operation between Pyongyang and Moscow in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, the ministry said.Echoing Kims concerns, Campbell pledged continued co-operation to tackle potential regional instability and challenges caused by the trip.While closely monitoring related developments, the two sides agreed to resolutely respond through airtight co-operation to North Koreas provocations against South Korea and actions that escalate tensions in the region, the ministry said in a statement.On Wednesday, a senior official at Seouls presidential office said Putin was expected to visit North Korea in the coming days.
Russias Vedomosti newspaper on Monday reported Putin would visit North Korea and Vietnam in the coming weeks.Civilian aircraft have been cleared from Pyongyangs airport and there are signs of preparations for a possible parade in the capitals Kim Il-sung Square, NK PRO, a Seoul-based website, reported this week, citing commercial satellite imagery.When Sergei Shoigu, then Russias defence minister, visited Pyongyang last year to jumpstart the two countries warming ties, he accompanied Kim to a parade and saluted as North Koreas banned nuclear-tipped missiles rolled by.Speaking at the Stimson Centre think tank in Washington on Wednesday, Campbell said the United States has a very good understanding of what North Korea has provided Russia, which he said has had a substantial impact on the battlefield.Less clear, he said, is what Russia has provided North Korea.Hard currency? Is it energy? Is it capabilities that allow them to advance their nuclear or missile products? We dont know.
But were concerned by that and watching carefully, he said.Source: Reuters--Agencies