Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui meet in Moscow.

North Korea will back Russia until it achieves victory in the Ukraine war, Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said on Friday at talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"Our traditional, historically friendly relations, which have travelled the tested path of history, today ... are rising to a new level of relations of invincible military comradeship," she told Lavrov, praising the role played in this by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She said Pyongyang had no doubt that under Putin's "wise leadership" the Russian army and people would "achieve a great victory in their sacred struggle to protect the sovereign rights and security interests of their state."

"And we also assure that until the day of victory we will firmly stand alongside our Russian comrades," she said.

Greeting her, Lavrov spoke of the "very close ties" between the two countries' militaries and said this enabled them to solve important security tasks together.

Neither referred to statements by the United States, NATO, South Korea and Ukraine this week that North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said separately on Friday that he had "nothing to add to what has already been said" about such statements.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that 8,000 of these were in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops broke across the border into Russia in August, and that he expected them to go into combat against Ukraine in the coming days.

"We are deeply grateful to our Korean friends for their principled position regarding the events that have now unfolded in Ukraine as a result of the West's course of advancing NATO to the east and encouraging an openly racist regime to exterminate everything Russian," Lavrov said.

"Very close contacts have been established between the military of the two countries and along the security services line - this also allows us to solve practically significant and important tasks for the security of our and your citizens."

Choe said the two countries needed to keep deepening their ties under a treaty signed by their leaders in June, which includes a mutual defence clause.

Moscow, which sent its army into Ukraine in February 2022, has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on Russian soil. Putin has said it is for Russia to decide how to implement the treaty with Kim.

Choe, in televised comments and speaking through an interpreter, accused the U.S. and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.

She provided no evidence to back her assertion, but spoke of regular consultations between Washington and Seoul at which she alleged such plotting took place.

Choe, who said the situation on the Korean Peninsula could become "explosive" at any moment, told Lavrov that North Korea needed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal and perfect its readiness to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike if necessary.

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Kremlin, asked if Russia is helping North Korea with missile technology, declines comment

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment when asked if Russia was helping North Korea to develop its missile and other military technology following a test launch by Pyongyang of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea said it had tested the missile on Thursday, upgrading what it called the "world's most powerful strategic weapon", as Seoul warned Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia for helping with the war in Ukraine.

The United States and NATO say some North Korean soldiers are in the Kursk region, a Russian border area which Ukrainian forces punched their way into in August and where they continue to hold territory. A couple of thousand more North Korean troops were heading there, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Moscow has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on its soil, with President Vladimir Putin saying it is Russia's business whether or not it decides to use North Korean troops.

When asked on a conference call on Thursday whether Moscow was helping North Korea with missile or other military technology, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "I do not have that information, it is specialised information and you should ask the Ministry of Defence."

Peskov referred to the importance of a comprehensive strategic partnership, which included a mutual defence clause, that was signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to Pyongyang by the Russian leader in June.

"Once again, I can only repeat that we remain committed to the treaty that we signed, we remain committed to our interests to develop relations with our neighbour in all areas, and this should not worry and concern anyone," said Peskov.

"It is the sovereign right of Russia and the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to develop relations as neighbouring states."

Russia said on Wednesday that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui was on her way to Moscow to hold strategic consultations with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, her second visit to Russia in six weeks.

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South Korea imposes sanctions on North Korean officials after latest missile test

South Korea has imposed sanctions on North Korean officials following Pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch amid concerns about the North receiving weapons technology from Russia.

South Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday said the government has imposed sanctions on 11 North Korean individuals and four entities in retaliation against Pyongyang’s first missile launch in almost a year.

Pyongyang confirmed the launch monitored by leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday after its neighbours detected the firing of a suspected new, more agile weapon capable of targeting mainland US.

The North on Friday claimed the missile that higher than any previous missile launched by the Kim government was Hwasong-19.

The launch was seen as a bid to grab American attention ahead of next week’s presidential election amid mounting Western criticism against the North allegedly sending thousands of soldiers to Russia to fight Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The North’s state news agency KCNA lauded the launch as “the world’s strongest strategic missile”.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said the launch could have been for several purposes, including demonstrating military technology, pressuring Washington, and diverting attention from the North’s deployment of troops to Moscow.

North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui, during her Moscow visit, accused Washington and Seoul of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.

She did not provide evidence to back her assertion, but spoke of regular consultations between Washington and Seoul at which she alleged such plotting took place.

Ms Choe said the situation on the Korean Peninsula could become “explosive” any moment as she told her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Pyongyang needed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal.

She said the North needed to perfect its readiness to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike if necessary.

North Korea was sanctioned by the UN security council in 2006 and the measures were steadily strengthened to halt its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The West believes by sending troops to Russia, the North could be rewarded with technology that could advance the threat posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.

Thursday’s launch drew swift condemnation from Washington and its allies in South Korea, Japan and Europe, as well as the United Nations secretary-general.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the “test fire is an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals”.

He added: “I affirm that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces.”

South Korea said it was the longest ballistic missile test by the North with a flight time of 87 minutes. The missile took off on a sharply lofted trajectory from near Pyongyang and splashed down about 200km west of Japan’s Okushiri island, off Hokkaido.

Japan said the missile climbed high into the atmosphere and flew a distance of 1,000km, reportedly setting new records of the country’s missile capabilities.

The test was conducted just as the US said that North Korea had sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia to be deployed on the frontline.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Thursday claimed that about 8,000 of the Korean soldiers are positioned in Kursk, the border region where Russian forces have been fighting off a Ukrainian incursion since August.

South Korea and allies have urged the North to withdraw its forces from Russia.

“The missile continues to underwrite the growing credibility of North Korea’s strategic deterrent capabilities,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Associated Press.

He added that Mr Kim appeared specifically interested in communicating that message to the US.

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