North Korea warns US of ‘new world war’ over Ukraine after pact with Putin

Analysts say that pact would lay the framework for arms trade between the two countries and facilitate their anti-US and anti-West coalition.

Pak Jong-chon, one of North Korea’s top military officials, said Russia has the “right to opt for any kind of retaliatory strike” in a statement carried by state media KCNA on Monday, adding if Washington kept pushing Ukraine to a “proxy war” against Russia, it could provoke a stronger response from Moscow, and a “new world war”.

Russia may have received about 1.6 million artillery shells from North Korea from August to January, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, analysing data from a US security non-profit C4ADS that shows 74,000 tonnes of explosives moved from Russia’s far east ports to other sites mainly along the borders near Ukraine.

North Korea plans to send construction and engineering forces to Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine as early as next month for rebuilding work, South Korean cable television network TV Chosun reported earlier, citing a South Korean government official.

Those forces, working overseas under the disguise of construction workers to earn hard currency for the regime, would be moved from China to those Russia-held regions, the network said. South Korea’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment on the reports.