韩国首尔-朝鲜周二指责美国编造所谓向俄罗斯转让武器的“阴谋故事”，辩称朝鲜从未向莫斯科发射炮弹。
上周，美国国家安全委员会发言人约翰·柯比(John Kirby)指责朝鲜秘密向俄罗斯提供“大量”弹药。他说，美国认为朝鲜试图通过让武器看起来被送往中东或北非国家来掩盖运输路线。
“我们认为美国的这种举动是其在国际舞台上损害(朝鲜)形象的敌对企图的一部分，”外交部军事外事办公室一名未透露姓名的副主任在官方媒体发表的一份声明中表示。
“我们再次明确表示，我们从未与俄罗斯进行过‘武器交易’，我们也没有计划在未来这样做，”这位副主任说。
今年9月，美国官员证实了一项最新降级的美国情报发现，即俄罗斯正在从朝鲜购买数百万枚火箭和炮弹。朝鲜后来驳回了这份报告，呼吁华盛顿停止发表“鲁莽的言论”，并“闭上嘴”。
11月2日，柯比说，美国“知道”朝鲜可能通过哪个或哪些国家运送武器，但没有具体说明。他表示，朝鲜的运输“不会改变战争的进程”，理由是西方为乌克兰军队提供补给。
受到国际制裁和出口管制的打击，俄罗斯在8月份购买了伊朗制造的无人机，美国官员称这些无人机存在技术问题。专家说，对俄罗斯来说，朝鲜可能是其弹药供应的另一个好选择，因为朝鲜储存了大量炮弹，其中许多是苏联时期的复制品。
尽管大多数欧洲和西方国家已经疏远，但朝鲜一直在推动加强与俄罗斯的关系，指责美国造成了危机，并谴责西方的“霸权政策”为俄罗斯在2010年的军事行动提供了理由乌克兰来保护自己。7月，朝鲜成为除俄罗斯和叙利亚之外唯一承认顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克独立的国家。
朝鲜政府还暗示，它有兴趣派遣建筑工人帮助重建乌克兰东部亲俄罗斯的分裂地区。
朝鲜可能向俄罗斯提供武器将违反联合国禁止朝鲜与其他国家进行武器交易的决议。但朝鲜不太可能因此受到新的制裁，因为联合国安理会(U.N. Security Council)在美国与俄罗斯在乌克兰战争上的对抗以及美国与俄罗斯的单独战略竞争上存在分歧中国。
今年早些时候，俄罗斯和中国已经否决了美国牵头的针对朝鲜一系列弹道导弹试验加强制裁的尝试，这些试验被联合国安理会的多项决议所禁止。
一些观察人士称，朝鲜也一直在利用俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的机会，加强武器试验活动，并加大对美国和韩国的压力。上周，朝鲜试射了数十枚导弹，作为对美韩大规模空中演习的回应，平壤方面认为美韩演习是潜在入侵的预演。
在朝鲜官方媒体周二发表的另一份声明中，一名朝鲜高级外交官批评了联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯最近对朝鲜发射导弹的谴责，称他是美国政府的“喉舌”。
朝鲜外务省负责国际组织的副部长金善炯(Kim Son Gyong)说，“联合国秘书长在重复白宫和国务院的话，好像他是他们的代言人，这是令人遗憾的。”。
金说，古特雷斯的“不公平和有偏见的行为”导致了该地区紧张局势的恶化。
N. Korea slams US for raising alleged arms supply to Russia
SEOUL, South Korea --North Korea on Tuesday accused the United States of cooking up a “plot-breeding story” on its alleged arms transfer to Russia, arguing it has never sent artillery shells to Moscow.
Last week, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby accused North Korea of covertly supplying a “significant number” of the ammunitions to Russia. He said the United States believes North Korea was trying to obscure the transfer route by making it appear the weapons were being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa.
“We regard such moves of the U.S. as part of its hostile attempt to tarnish the image of (North Korea) in the international arena," an unidentified vice director at the ministry’s military foreign affairs office said in a statement carried by state media.
“We once again make clear that we have never had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia and that we have no plan to do so in the future,” the vice director said.
In September, U.S. officials confirmed a newly downgraded U.S. intelligence finding that Russia was in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. North Korea later dismissed that report, calling on Washington to stop making “reckless remarks” and to “keep its mouth shut.”
On Nov. 2, Kirby said the U.S. has “an idea” of which country or countries the North may funnel the weapons through but wouldn’t specify. He said the North Korean shipments are “not going to change the course of the war,” citing Western efforts to resupply the Ukrainian military.
Slapped by international sanctions and export controls, Russia in August bought Iranian-made drones that U.S. officials said had technical problems. For Russia, experts say North Korea is likely another good option for its ammunitions supply, because the North keeps a significant stockpile of shells, many of them copies of Soviet-era ones.
Even as most of Europe and the West has pulled away, North Korea has pushed to boost relations with Russia, blaming the U.S. for the crisis and decrying the West’s “hegemonic policy” as justifying military action by Russia inUkraineto protect itself. In July, North Korea became the only nation aside from Russia and Syria to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk territories as independent.
The North Korean government has also hinted it is interested in sending construction workers to help rebuild pro-Russia breakaway regions in Ukraine’s east.
North Korea’s possible arms supply to Russia would be a violation of U.N. resolutions that ban the North from trading weapons with other countries. But it’s unlikely for North Korea to receive fresh sanctions for that because of a division at the U.N. Security Council over America’s confrontations with Russia regarding its war in Ukraine and its separate strategic competitions withChina.
Earlier this year, Russia and China already vetoed a U.S.-led attempt to toughen sanctions on North Korea over its series of ballistic missile tests that are banned by multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Some observers say North Korea has also been using the Russian aggression in Ukraine as a window to ramp up weapons testing activity and dial up pressure on the United States and South Korea. Last week, the North test-fired dozens of missiles in response to large-scale U.S.-South Korea aerial drills that Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for a potential invasion.
In a separate statement published Tuesday by state media, a senior North Korean diplomat criticized U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent condemnation of North Korea’s missile launch barrage, calling him a “mouthpiece” of the U.S. government.
“The U.N. secretary general is echoing what the White House and the State Department say as if he were their mouthpiece, which is deplorable,” said Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international organizations at the North Korean Foreign Ministry.
Kim said that Guterres’ “unfair and prejudiced behavior” has contributed to the worsening tensions in the region.
