Russia: US exploits North Korea issue to militarize Asia-Pacific

(Baonghean.vn) - Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev explained why Washington is trying to deploy global missile defense systems in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US THAAD system in South Korea. Photo: AP

In an interview with Argumenty i Fakty, Mr. Patrushev said: “Everyone understands that the nuclear and missile issue of the DPRK is, in fact, used as a pretext for the US to continue militarizing the Asia-Pacific region in order to serve the interests of containing Russia and China.”

According to Mr. Patrushev, Washington "always steadfastly implements plans to deploy equipment of the global missile defense system in countries in the region."

This official affirmed that in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula, Washington needs to respect the lives of US citizens in South Korea, because when war breaks out, their lives will be threatened.

“As history has shown, the United States is not used to respecting the lives of citizens living in other countries to achieve its goals. However, Washington should take into account the fact that up to 250,000 Americans live in South Korea,” Mr. Patrushev stressed.

The Secretary of the Russian Security Council also said: “Behind the image of aggressor countries that Washington imposes on itself are real economic interests, from which “spreads American influence similar to the Cold War period”.

Mr. Patrushev also mentioned the defense budget bill of up to nearly 700 billion USD for the US military in 2018, of which 4.6 billion USD is spent on deterrence activities against so-called “Russian aggression” in Europe, with 100 million USD allocated to strengthen the defense capacity of the Baltic countries and 350 million USD for military aid to Ukraine.

“In the history of the 20th century, there are many illustrative examples of the catastrophic consequences of these actions,” Mr. Patrushev concluded.

Lan Ha

(According to Sputnik)