If N Korea hands over nuclear arsenal to Russia, it will be very dangerous: South Korean Envoy to India

New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) South Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok on Tuesday said that North Korea is playing a ‘survival game’ with nuclear arsenal and if it provides any weapons to Russia, it will be “very dangerous”.

Chang Jae Bok made the remarks while addressing a press conference here at the Korean Culture Centre.

He said: "North Korea is kind of playing survival game with nuclear arsenal. And if North Korea provides some weapons or arsenals to Russia, it will be very dangerous, so we are very cautious about that.''

He made the response to a question when asked about North Korea's Kim Jong Un scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

''We will see, and have already issued a warning to the North Korean regime,'' he said.

He also thanked India for being a wonderful host for the G20 Summit which was also attended by Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of South Korea.

To a question about the New Delhi Declaration and everyone coming to consensus on Ukraine-Russia issue, Chang Joe-Bak said, "We appreciate the Indian leadership to come up with the consensus in paragraph relating to Ukraine."

"We thank the Indian government and Amitabh Kant made great efforts to get the herculean task of declaration done and for getting a consensus of all members of the country. At the end of the day, G20 members had a consensus on declaration, we must congratulate everyone. In particular, I will emphasise, para 14, it says this is not an era of war and it is our position as well," the South Korean Ambassador to India said.

He also highlighted the bilateral meeting between Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that went on for 40 minutes and said that the two countries agreed on several sectors.

"Both leaders have strengthened defence system. We welcome the electronic data exchange system which will make bilateral trade and investment much smoother. Economic development cooperation funds will help infrastructure in India. They have also agreed to strengthen space programmes to team up for critical technologies," he said.

He also said that India and South Korea will also team up in defence industry cooperation which will be the core sector of the partnership between the two countries.

He said that some technology can be transported to India from South Korea, like conventional submarines, missile systems can be discussed between the two armed forces. "Defence industry cooperation will be the core sector of the partnership with the two countries," he said.

He also congratulated India on its G20 Presidency, saying that India will become a global leader.

“We have agreed to provide an amount of $ 4 billion during 2023-25. To realise this project we need more discussion within the government officials. First step is to sign the framework agreement...so that was discussed between the two leaders,” he said.

When asked about the India and South Korea exploring a new migration agreement to allow easier mobility for professionals to move between both economies, the envoy said: "We are working on the partnership agreement as proposed by India. Issues will be discussed. We will reply to Indian government about that. It will be mutually beneficial for India and South Korea.”

He also said that the South Korea has problem with low birth rate and in his personal opinion, Korea needs more skilled Indian people to come to Korea.

The G20 Summit was held in Delhi on September 9 and 10.