(16 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seoul - 16 October 2024
1. Wide of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Hong Kyun, and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister, Masataka Okano, at podiums during news conference
2. Pan of Campbell, Kim and Okano
3. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Hong Kyun, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister:
"We are aware of the reports regarding the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia. While I cannot provide specific information, our government has consistently emphasized its strong stance that such illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must be halted immediately. If these reports are true, it would indicate that North Korea is not only providing munitions or missiles to Russia but also directly participating in the war, which could be a very serious matter. Moving forward, we intend to maintain our position among the United States, South Korea and Japan that such illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must be stopped."
4. Various of journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Kurt Campbell, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State:
"There are reports of further activities including personnel. I think we are still evaluating those reports. We are concerned by them and as I said, I think we agreed that we will continue to monitor the situations closely."
6. Wide of news conference
STORYLINE:
Senior diplomats from South Korea, the US and Japan on Wednesday expressed concerns over reports that North Korean troops were deployed to Russia to support them in their fight with Ukraine.

In a joint news conference in Seoul following the trilateral talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterpart, South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun said if the reports were found to be true, it could be a "very serious matter".

Kim said, however, he could not confirm the reports.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell also said he couldn’t confirm Ukrainian claims that Pyongyang was also sending soldiers to fight for Moscow

“We are concerned by them and ... we agreed that we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Campbell said about the claims.

The comments from the senior diplomats came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly said that North Korea has sent arms and troops to Russia to fight in Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Kim and Campbell joined their Japanese counterpart Masataka Okano in a three-way dialogue to discuss regional and global issues including situations in North Korea, Taiwan Strait and Middle East.

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