North Korea’s foreign ministry has denied a Japanese media report that Pyongyang has provided munitions to Russia by rail, calling the claim an outrageous fabrication.

According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday, a spokesperson for the ministry denounced the report by Japanese media as a most absurd manipulation of public opinion unworthy of comment or interpretation.

The spokesperson said that the North's position on the matter remains unchanged, asserting that no arms deals exist between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The official added that the international community should focus on the criminal acts of the United States in sending a range of weapons to Ukraine rather than listening to the unfounded rumors of weapons dealings between North Korea and Russia.

The remarks came in response to a report by a Japanese daily, the Tokyo Shimbun, on Thursday that the North transported artillery shells and other munitions via train from the North's northeastern border city of Rason to Khasan in neighboring Russia.