The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian envoy in Seoul today, Saturday, to file a complaint regarding Moscow's criticisms of recent comments made by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol about North Korea's quest to develop a nuclear arsenal. Jeong Byung-won, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, called in Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev this afternoon to emphasize that Moscow's criticism of Yoon's statements will negatively affect relations between the two countries.
The ministry stated: "Deputy Minister Jeong expressed great regret that Russia ignored the facts and unconditionally defended North Korea while harshly criticizing the president's remarks, stressing that this will only exacerbate Korean-Russian relations." The summons followed Yoon's condemnation on January 31 of Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons to maintain the current regime, remarks that were described as "biased" and "shameful" by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in a statement issued days later.
