South Korea summons Russian ambassador to protest comments on President Yoon's views on North Korea

South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to protest Moscow's recent statement on President Yoon Suk-yeol's stance on North Korea.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. (Source: Yonhap)

The South Korean Foreign Ministry on February 3 summoned Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev to protest a recent statement by a Russian Foreign Ministry official about President Yoon Suk-yeol's stance on the North Korean regime.

Earlier, on December 31, 2023, President Yoon described North Korea as "the only country in the world that has legalized a policy of using nuclear weapons for preemptive strikes", amid escalating tensions due to a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang since the beginning of the year.

In comments published the following day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Mr. Yoon's remarks as "clearly biased."

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won summoned Ambassador Zinoviev to protest the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman’s remarks. During the meeting, Chung expressed “deep regret” for criticizing the South Korean president’s remarks with disrespectful language, warning that such an action could worsen bilateral relations.

For his part, Ambassador Zinoviev said he would immediately inform Moscow about the position of the Korean Government.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement, calling the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman's comments "substandard and biased."

"This comment ignores the clear and objective reality that North Korea's continuous threatening rhetoric and military provocations have increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the region," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

In another development, on February 3, North Korea announced that it had conducted a "super-large warhead power test on a cruise missile" and test-fired a new type of anti-aircraft missile the day before.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/han-quoc-trieu-dai-su-nga-phan-doi-binh-luan-ve-quan-diem-cua-tong-thong-yoon-ve-trieu-tien-259863.html