N. Korea denies news report of munition supplies to Russia

N Korea-Russia-arms supplies

N. Korea denies news report of munition supplies to Russia

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Friday denied a Japanese media report that it has transported munitions to Russia by rail.

An unnamed spokesperson at the North Korean foreign ministry said the North has never had any arms transactions with Russia which has staged war with Ukraine, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The Japanese media's false report that the DPRK offered munitions to Russia is the most absurd red herring, which is not worth any comment or interpretation," the official said in an English-language statement carried by the KCNA.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Tokyo Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reported Thursday that the North transported artillery shells and other munitions via train linking the North's northeastern border city of Rason with Khasan in neighboring Russia.

North Korean arms exports are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved