North Korea says US plan to send cluster munitions to Ukraine is 'criminal'

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Tuesday condemned U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine as a "criminal act" and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the plan.

The fact that Biden had admitted it was a difficult decision showed he was aware of the disastrous consequences the use of cluster munitions, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

"I strongly condemn the U.S. decision to provide weapons of mass destruction to Ukraine as a dangerous criminal act as it tries to push the world into new calamity, and strongly demand that it be withdrawn immediately," she said.

Reclusive North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine in February last year.

The United States announced last week it will send Ukraine the controversial weapons - prohibited by more than 100 countries - as part of an $800 million security package.

Ukraine said the U.S. decision would help to liberate Ukrainian territory but promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.

(Reporting by Jack Kim, editing by Ed Osmond and Nick Macfie)