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North Korean leader's sister denies Russia arms deal

STORY: The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has again denied arms exchanges with Russia. State media on Friday quoted Kim Yo Jong as calling the arms deal the ‘most absurd theory’ that was ‘woven with prejudice and fiction’. The U.S. and South Korea have accused North Korea of transferring weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the deal, but vowed last year to deepen military relations. In a report seen by Reuters, United Nations sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee that debris from a missile that landed in Ukraine in January was from a North Korean ballistic missile. Then on Thursday the U.S. announced fresh sanctions on several Russian companies and individuals for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea. Ties between the two countries have grown stronger since Kim Jong Un's visit to Russia last September. Kim Yo Jong added in her statement that North Korea's tactical weapons such as rocket launchers and missiles recently displayed by North Korea were not meant for exports, but for defense against South Korea. North and South Korea remain technically at war because their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. South Korea's defense ministry said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the North’s military activities.