Russia warns US, South Korea and Japan against forming security alliance targeting North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister warned the U.S., South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke Saturday at North Korea's eastern Wonsan city, where he met the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, and conveyed greetings from President Vladimir Putin.

Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.

He said Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in conformity with the level of alliance,” according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Lavrov called for the two countries to further strengthen their “strategic and tactical cooperation and intensify concerted action” in international affairs, KCNA reported.

Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.

That has raised concerns among South Korea, the U.S. and others that Russia might also transfer sensitive technologies to North Korea that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programs.

Speaking with reporters after a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui, Lavrov accused the U.S., South Korea and Japan of what he called military buildups around North Korea.

“We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,” he said, according to Russia's state Tass news agency.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan have expanded or restored their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. The three countries held a joint air drill Friday involving U.S. nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities threatening regional security.

North Korea views major U.S.-led military drills as invasion rehearsals and has long argued it is forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from U.S. military threats.

Russia understands North Korea’s decision to seek nuclear weapons, Lavrov said.

“The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing nuclear development,” Lavrov said, according to Tass.

During their meeting, Choe reiterated North Korea “unconditionally” supports Russia’s fight against Ukraine, as Lavrov repeated Russia’s gratitude for the contribution North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort in Wonsan city, the meeting venue, that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people.

In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said, “I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of Kim's push to boost tourism to improve his country’s troubled economy. However, prospects for the tourist complex aren’t clear as North Korea appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.

Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Elise Morton in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Wonsan, North Korea, on Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, right, attend a signing ceremony following their talks in Wonsan, North Korea, on Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, second left, and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, second right, attend the talks in Wonsan, North Korea, on Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, second right, shakes hands with North Korean officials upon his arrival at an airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea, on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)