The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has denounced a recent report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on its cooperation with Russia, calling it a “gross violation of sovereignty” and warning of powerful countermeasures.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the DPRK Foreign Ministry condemned the report as illegitimate and politically motivated, challenging the right of the United States and its allies to assess the country’s external relations.

The MSMT report, released on May 29, focused on the military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, which it claimed violates UN Security Council resolutions.

The group, formed in October 2024 by 11 states including the United States, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, was created after Russia vetoed the extension of the mandate of the previous UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions on the DPRK.

In a press statement, the DPRK Foreign Ministry criticized the team as a “phantom group with no legitimacy” and accused it of undermining the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference. The statement declared that Pyongyang has the right to respond with “powerful countermeasures” to defend its national interests and sovereignty against what it described as hostile actions.

“No one has given the United States and its allies the authority to evaluate the legitimate relations between sovereign states and accuse them of wrongdoing,” the ministry stated, adding that the “existence and activities of the MSMT must be questioned and rejected.”

Citing international law, the DPRK argued that its cooperation with Russia is a legitimate exercise of sovereign rights. The ministry referenced Article 51 of the UN Charter, which provides for the right to individual or collective self-defense.

Furthermore, it pointed to Article 4 of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, which allows for military and other forms of support if either party is subjected to an armed attack.

The ministry emphasized that the ongoing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow is not only legal under international frameworks but also aimed at safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity, and maintaining peace and stability across the Eurasian region.

Pyongyang further accused the MSMT and its backers of misusing the UN framework to pursue geopolitical objectives and delegitimize the DPRK’s independent foreign policy.

The DPRK-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership officially came into force on December 4, 2024, following the exchange of ratification instruments between Deputy Foreign Ministers Andrey Rudenko and Kim Jong Gyu in Moscow, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The agreement, hailed by both governments as a milestone in bilateral defense and diplomatic coordination, was previously ratified by the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK and endorsed by Russian lawmakers.