Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul (right) and the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell on Nov. 4 shake hands at their bilateral strategic dialogue held at the ministry compound in Seoul. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The government and the European Union have condemned North Korea's troop support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and developing nuclear weapons and missiles, saying the North will never gain the status of a nuclear state.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Nov. 4 said Minister Cho Tae-yul and Josep Borrell, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission, that day held the first ROK (Republic of Korea)-EU Strategic Dialogue at the ministry compound in Seoul. 

They discussed bilateral ties, cooperation between Pyeongyang and Moscow, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and regional and global affairs.

In their talks, both sides adopted a joint statement blasting the North's troop dispatch to Russia, urging Pyeongyang to immediately cease military cooperation with Moscow and withdraw its troops. The statement also requested that the North "take concrete steps towards abandoning all nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and related programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

"The DPRK cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear weapon State in accordance with the NPT," it added, urging Russia "to abide by its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and multiple (United Nations) Security Council resolutions."

Minister Cho and Vice President Borrell agreed that security conditions in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region grew much closer due to the North's troop deployment, and consequently signed the Korea-EU Security and Defense Partnership.

The partnership covers cooperation in 15 areas of national security and defense such as maritime security, cybersecurity, disarmament and non-proliferation. Based on this alliance, both sides agreed to bolster joint efforts to respond to the rise in global security threats.

They also decided to upgrade the Korea-EU Security Defense Dialogue to the annual ROK-EU Security and Defense Dialogue at the director-general level of Korea's foreign affairs and defense ministries and the managing director level of the EU.

dusrud21@korea.kr