An article in North Korea’s state media Tuesday touted alleged support for the repressive regime from Latin America following their missile launch in Japan, citing a statement from four branches of the Korean Friendship Association.
In a report titled “U.S. Interference in Other Countries’ Internal Affairs Slammed,” the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun claimed that multiple countries had denounced Vice President Mike Pence following his tour of Latin America, where he asked them to sever diplomatic ties with the communist state.
The Brazilian, Chilean, Mexican and Peruvian branches of the Korean Friendship Association issued a joint statement on Aug. 19 denouncing the U.S. vice-president for asking some Latin American countries to cut their diplomatic relations with the DPRK.
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It strongly denounced the U.S. vice-president, noting that the U.S. is leaving no means untried to isolate and stifle the DPRK, trying to render the people of other countries dependent on the U.S. and fully revealing its true colors of ignoring human ideal.
It extended invariable support and solidarity to the just cause of the Korean people who are winning victories under the wise guidance of respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, calling upon the independent countries of Latin America having diplomatic ties with the DPRK to further develop friendship and exchange.
The statement came after North Korea launched its latest missile on Monday, part of a series of launches seemingly intended to express anger at a joint U.S.-South Korean missile drill currently in progress.
The Korean Friendship Association is a Spain-based group designed to promote the North Korean state, with official representatives in 28 countries. However, it has only one paid employee, its president Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez.
Despite the implication in North Korea’s state newspaper, the governments of Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Peru are not publicly supportive of the North Korean regime even as they maintain civil ties with the nation.
One of the few countries in Latin America to have strong diplomatic ties to North Korea is Venezuela, with Venezuela’s Guárico state even holding a ceremony this year to honor Kim Il-sung.
Meanwhile, the North Korean regime has also touted support from Cuba in an attempt to prove it is not isolated in the face of increasingly stern rhetoric from President Donald Trump.
Following the launch on Monday, President Donald Trump warned that “all options are on the table” to solve the North Korean crisis, having previously claimed that they would be met with “fire and fury” should they continue their aggression.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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