Russia is closing in on sending its advanced space technology to North Korea and could also soon accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday during a visit to South Korea.
The comments come as Russia ramps up its military alliance with North Korea, as its troops fight alongside the Kremlin’s soldiers in Ukraine, and after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea Monday.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training,” Blinken said on the trip to Seoul. “Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”
What’s more, Blinken said on his final visit to Seoul as America’s top diplomat, Moscow “may be close to reversing a decades-long policy” and recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power.
The offer of launch services for North Korean spacecraft along with help building satellites had earlier been reported as a big part of the deal for Moscow to receive artillery ammunition from the secretive, authoritarian country for use in its war on Ukraine.
Last May, state propaganda outlet the Korean Central News Agency reported that the launch of Pyongyang’s second spy satellite had failed soon after liftoff from a location in the north of the country likely due to a problem with its engine.
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