Russian ambassador urges not to give up dialog with North Korea

SEOUL, June 8. /TASS/. North Korea’s nuclear and missile problem is still soluble by political and diplomatic means, Russia’s ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Aleksandr Timonin, said at a reception on the occasion of Russia Day.

"Although Russia has criticized Pyongyang (for its nuclear test and missile launches) and supported Resolution 2270 of the UN Security Council, we believe that it would be wrong to shut all doors to a dialog with North Korea and to dismiss offhand all of its proposals that might play a positive role in improving the state of affairs in the Korean Peninsula," Timonin said.

"Russia is certain that it is possible to resolve the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula only by political and diplomatic means and to refrain from excessive concentration of modern weapons in Northeast Asia, including the deployment of a regional segment of the United States’ global missile defense," Timonin said. 

South Korea’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Lim Sungnam said the international community, including South Korea and Russia, should demonstrate very clearly that it is not going to tolerate the North Korean nuclear program.

"The priority tasks are the prevention of more provocations by Pyongyang and the achievement of de-nuclearization of North Korea, which would guarantee peace and stability in the region. The South Korean government will go ahead with tight cooperation with Russia in order to achieve a fundamental solution of the North Korean nuclear and missile problems," Lim said.

On February 7, the North Korean authorities declared the launch of a rocket carrying a space satellite. One month before that, on January 6, Pyongyang staged a fourth underground nuclear test over the past ten years. UN Security Council resolutions prohibit Pyongyang from conducting any activity related with nuclear and ballistic missile technologies.