The chief of the External Policy Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on June 1 issued the following press statement titled "Our efforts to defend the dignity and interests of the state will not be bound by anyone's prejudiced viewpoint and malicious criticism":

Recently, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), the U.S.-led sanctions and plot-breeding mechanism, committed a political provocation of releasing the fabricated "report" taking issue with the cooperative relations between the DPRK and Russia.

The hostile act of the MSMT, a bogus group which is illegitimate in terms of its existence and purpose, is a wanton violation of international legal instruments having sovereign equality and non-interference in others’ internal affairs at its core and a mockery of the fair and impartial international community.

We express serious concern over the provocative acts of the West to encroach upon the sovereign rights of the DPRK with its unilateral and high-handed political and legal standards as a yardstick, and give a stern warning against the negative consequences to be entailed by its reckless acts.

No one has entrusted the U.S. and its followers with the mission and power to judge and denounce the legitimate relations between sovereign states at their own discretion, and herein lies the main reason why the existence and activities of the MSMT should be questioned and rejected.

The MSMT, which was formed arbitrarily by eleven countries hostile to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation, is a political tool operating according to the geopolitical interests of the West to the core and, therefore, has no justification to investigate the exercise of sovereign rights of other countries.

The DPRK-Russia military cooperation aimed at protecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests of the states and ensuring peace and stability in the Eurasian region is a legitimate exercise of the sovereign rights enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter which stipulates that nothing shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence. The cooperation is also a legitimate exercise of the sovereign right fully conforming with Article 4 of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the DPRK and Russia which requires each of the parties to provide military and other assistance if an armed attack occurs against the other.

Why the military cooperation among the MSMT nations has not become the target of international investigation is not because it is just or defensive, nor peaceful – this is what needs to be made clear on this occasion.

The legality and justness of the DPRK-Russia relations based on the new development orientation lies in the fact that they are the highest form of inter-state relations that have put an end to an era when a handful of countries form an illegal and confrontation-oriented political and military alliance and resort to arbitrary practices at will, and thus established a multi-polar world order based on genuine respect for sovereignty, equality and justice.

The DPRK has the right to strong countermeasures to defend its rights and interests from the outrageous encroachment on its sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs by the member states of the MSMT.

The hostile forces' illegal plot-breeding moves can never impact the relations of cooperation between independent sovereign states. Our efforts to defend the dignity and interests of the state will not be bound by anyone's prejudiced viewpoint and malicious criticism.