South Korea warns North Korea, Russia against breaching UN resolutions: ‘there will be a price to pay’

South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) said on Thursday that North Korea and Russia would “pay a price” if they violate UN Security Council resolutions.

The council also said it was taking seriously the two countries’ discussions on military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

While urging Pyongyang and Moscow not to trade weapons, South Korea will work with the United States, Japan and the international community to deal with the situation, the council said in a statement.

“The government said that with any actions that threaten our security by North Korea and Russia violating [UN] Security Council resolutions, there will be a price to pay,” it said.

The message comes after the NSC held a meeting to discuss the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The South Korean meeting was attended by senior officials including the foreign minister as well as the unification minister, who is in charge of relations with North Korea.

Earlier, Unification Minister Kim Young-ho also expressed concern over military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia for Putin talks

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s security detail spent several minutes disinfecting the chair that Kim sat on during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Thursday.

Video footage published by the newspaper showed a North Korean security official in white gloves scrupulously wiping down Kim’s black chair and spraying around an unidentified substance.

The North Korean sprayed and wiped down the seat, the hands, the legs and even the area around the chair as a Kremlin bodyguard looked on in a slightly bemused way.

Another North Korean guard then gave some sort of order to the guard doing the disinfecting. The nature of the order was unclear.

“The chair turned out to be the subject of the greatest concern of the North Korean side,” wrote Kommersant’s Kremlin correspondent, Andrei Kolesnikov.

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Former North Korean official explains why Kim Jong-un travels by train for state visits

Former North Korean official explains why Kim Jong-un travels by train for state visits

Apparently Kim’s security detail – of over 100 people – were unhappy with the first chair and another one – exactly the same – was produced by the Russian side, Kommersant said.

“Then a North Korean employee wiped the chair intended for Kim Jong-un for several minutes without stopping, wearing white gloves: judging by the smell he disinfected it,” said Kommersant, one of Russia’s leading newspapers.

“In the end, it was a matter of life and death for them, but not for their leader.”