SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea on Tuesday condemned U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine as a “criminal act” and demanded the project’s immediate withdrawal.
Biden’s admission that it was a tough decision shows he was aware of the dire consequences of using cluster munitions, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said. in a statement released by the official KCNA news agency.
“I strongly condemn the US decision to supply weapons of mass destruction to Ukraine as a dangerous criminal act as it attempts to plunge the world into yet another calamity, and strongly demand that it be withdrawn immediately,” she said.
A reclusive North Korea forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine in February last year.
The United States announced last week that it would send the controversial weapons – banned by more than 100 countries – to Ukraine as part of an $800 million security package.
Ukraine said the US move would help liberate Ukrainian territory, but promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.
(Reporting by Jack Kim, editing by Ed Osmond and Nick Macfie)