Russia, North Korea sign agreement to prevent dangerous military activity

PYONGYANG, November 12./TASS/. After two days of negotiations in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, Russia and North Korea signed on Thursday an agreement to prevent dangerous military activity. The document was inked by the visiting first deputy chief of the Russian Army General Staff, Nikolai Bogdanovsky, and the deputy chief of the Korean people’s Army General Staff, General O Kum Chol, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports. A draft agreement between two countries has already been approved by the Russian government. Under the draft, posted on the website of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers, the sides intend "to show extra caution and good sense in the activity carried out close to the territory or positions of the armed forces of the other state". The document commits each of the sites to taking necessary measures aimed "to prevent hardware and personnel from getting into the territory of another state due to force majeure circumstances or as a result of unintended activity". Under the document, "the sides take all possible measures to promptly stop and settle peacefully any incidents that may emerge as a result of dangerous military activity, without resorting to threats to use force or using it," the draft document said. It also said the agreements "will not affect the rights and commitments of the sides on their other existing international agreements and right to self-defense," and said the agreement was not aimed against any third state. To implement the agreements, the two countries intend to set up a special joint military commission. Read more