SEOUL, October 25. /TASS/. North Korea cannot confirm media reports that the country has sent its servicemen to Russia, but even if that were true, it would be in line with the norms of international law, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu said.
"I think that if what the world media are buzzing about were to take place, it would be in accordance with international law," the Korean Central News Agency quoted the senior diplomat as saying. "I think there are obviously forces that would like to classify this [action] as illegal," he underscored.
Kim Jong Gyu pointed out that he has seen "versions of the deployment of the North Korean armed forces to Russia that have been circulated in the world media recently." "The Foreign Ministry is not directly related to the affairs of the Defense Ministry. I do not see the need to separately confirm such information," the senior diplomat said.
Earlier, at a press conference on the results of the BRICS Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on reports about available satellite images that allegedly show the transfer of North Korean servicemen to Russia. Putin called the satellite images a "serious matter," but emphasized that NATO servicemen had been directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict for a long time.