Senior U.S. and Swedish diplomats expressed concern over North Korea's "worrying trends," including its growing military cooperation with Russia and the human rights situation in the reclusive state during their talks in Washington this week, the State Department said Tuesday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jan Knutsson led the two countries' bilateral talks on the Indo-Pacific in the U.S. capital on Monday. "Deputy Secretary Campbell and State Secretary Knutsson noted with concern the PRC's continued support to the Russian defense industrial base, as well as worrying trends in the DPRK including growing military cooperation with Russia and the concerning human rights situation," the department said in a media note. PRC and DPRK stand for the official names of China and North Korea, the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The two sides also discussed joint priorities to advance a "free and open" Indo-Pacif ic, including upholding international law, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to the department. "They underscored the importance of further developing the critical ties between NATO allies and NATO's Indo-Pacific partners in addressing pressing security challenges," it said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. South Korea is part of NATO's four Indo-Pacific partners, which include Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Sweden has long played a role for security on the Korean Peninsula. It has a diplomatic mission in North Korea as well as a military presence in South Korea as part of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, an impartial observer of the implementation of the armistice agreement that halted the Korean War. In March, Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member, as Washington has been striving to strengthen cooperation with its allies and partners amid Russia's war in Ukraine, China's growin g assertiveness and North Korea's continued saber-rattling Source: Yonhap News Agency
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