SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday said it would not confirm media reports of the country’s troops deploying to help Russia’s war in Ukraine, after Pyongyang’s envoy to the United Nations dismissed the claims.
If North Korea had taken such steps, it would be in line with international norms despite possible attempts by others to portray it as illegal, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
The statement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to deny the reports, which have come from governments in Ukraine, South Korea, the United States and other countries.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Toby Chopra)
