PATRIOT PARK /Moscow Region/, August 15. /TASS/. The US is using events in Ukraine as a pretext to spread NATO’s influence in the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC), North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam said in an address read out at the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.
The defense minister noted that the US’ actions aiming to establish military dominance seriously threaten not only North Korea’s security but also that of other independent countries in the APAC.
According to him, "America, by referring to the events in Ukraine, stresses the connection between security issues in the Atlantic and the APAC" in order to turn NATO "which is synonymous with war and conflict" into a "global military alliance."
"Following the Cold War, the United States and the West, having ignored Russia’s rational and fair demand to provide it with legal security guarantees, have been insisting on forcing NATO’s eastward expansion and systematically destroying the balance of forces in Europe which resulted in the first armed clash following the Second World War," the top military official added.
He also noted that nowhere else are Western confrontational military-political blocs, including AUKUS, QUAD, Five Eyes, located as closely as in the APAC. The DPRK defense minister stressed that this reflects the US’ hard line on distinguishing between "friends and foes" in the region.
The 11th Moscow Conference on International Security is running on the premises of the Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum.
The Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum is being held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, the Alabino training ground and the Kubinka airfield outside Moscow on August 14-20. Over 60 countries have confirmed the participation of their official military delegations in the forum.
The forum’s scientific and business program includes over 300 events focusing on the development of Russia’s armed forces and its defense industry and international military-technical cooperation, taking into account present-day realities. Access to the forum and events under the scientific and business program is reserved for industry specialists and foreign delegations on August 15-17. The event will be open to the general public on August 18-20. TASS is the forum’s strategic media partner.