North Korea accuses Ukraine of having nuclear ambitions
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Ms Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, accused Ukraine of calling for nuclear weapons.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL - North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, accused Ukraine of calling for nuclear weapons, state media KCNA reported on Saturday.
Ms Kim had based her assertion on an online petition in Ukraine that has drawn about 600 signatures so far.
She said this kind of petition could be a political plot by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, but did not provide any evidence for the assertion.
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement last week that Moscow plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a public petition was filed to the Ukrainian presidential office’s website on Thursday, calling for Ukraine to host nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory, or for it to be armed with its own nuclear weapons.
By Saturday afternoon, the petition had gained only 611 signatures, far short of the 25,000 needed for a response from Mr Zelensky.
Kyiv officials have not commented on the petition so far.
North Korea is forging closer ties with the Kremlin amid shared isolation by the West and it supported Moscow’s position after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, including its later proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine that most United Nations members condemned as illegal.
North Korea has denied providing arms to Moscow. REUTERS
