MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. North Korea’s isolation triggers its development of nuclear potential, which arouses concerns of the international community, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"The situation in North Korea causes concerns around the world. We are also concerned as this country borders it and we cannot but be puzzled when they develop their missile technologies and nuclear potential, this concerns us," Patrushev said.
"But we also see another side - one should not push them towards this, but this is happening. They [North Korea] see that they are in isolation and they should ensure their security themselves, and that no one will assist them here, and see threats for themselves," he said.
The security chief said that this is an issue for multilateral talks. "This is not easy, but there is the need to seek this and make agreements, including with North Korea, but also to understand concerns, which they have," Patrushev said.
Speaking on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region in general, Patrushev said that there are territorial disputes between a number of countries. "We want these territorial disputes to be solved in accordance with the international law, accumulated experience and namely by those countries, which are involved in these disputes," he said.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula began to grow in early 2016 when North Korea conducted a nuclear test and after that launched a ballistic missile carrying a satellite. In September 2016, Pyongyang carried out another nuclear test, while more than 20 missiles were test-fired during the year.
On May 14, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the area north-west of the town of Kusong. According to the Japanese government’s data, the missile flew about 800 km and fell in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Last time Pyongyang test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile from that region was in February this year.