Russia, South Korea urge denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

Russia and South Korea on Monday called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"We reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and in this regard stressed that both Russia and South Korea will not accept the self-proclaimed nuclear status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se.

Lavrov said that Russia would pursue the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270 adopted in March to curb the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

"We consider it unacceptable to turn the region into a confrontation area, as all problems should be settled by negotiations," Lavrov said.

Yun said South Korea sees the DPRK nuclear issue as "the largest obstacle" to improving Moscow-Seoul cooperation and enhancing regional peace and prosperity, and a threat to the international community.

"The DPRK is moving backwards by not stopping its aspirations to obtain nuclear potential ... We consider it necessary to direct the DPRK into a correct route by joint efforts of the international community to support the full observation of the UN Security Council resolutions," Yun said.

The ministers also discussed bilateral cooperation in such fields as energy, nuclear, port infrastructure and fisheries, as well as the prospects of establishing a free trade zone between South Korea and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Yun's visit is the first travel by a South Korean foreign minister to Russia in five years. The South Korean Foreign Ministry described the visit as an opportunity to make diplomatic efforts to put pressure on Pyongyang to halt its nuclear program. Endi