As of: October 21, 2024 1:07 p.m
Training of North Korean soldiers for deployment in Ukraine is said to have begun in Russia. South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador – the troops had to return immediately.
The South Korean government has summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul over the alleged deployment of 1,500 North Korean soldiers to Russia.
Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun expressed “serious concern about the recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia” and called for their “immediate withdrawal,” the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said.
“Serious Threat”
According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, Kim told the Russian ambassador that providing North Korean weapons and soldiers to Russia’s war in Ukraine posed “a serious security threat not only to South Korea but to the international community.” He also emphasized that “such actions violate several UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Charter.”
“We will respond together with the international community by using all available means against actions that threaten our core security interests,” Kim continued.
For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev assured that cooperation between Russia and North Korea “is not directed against South Korea’s security interests.” The cooperation between the two countries is in accordance with international law, it said.
The Kremlin said it was Moscow’s sovereign right to expand relations with Pyongyang in all areas.
Brought to Vladivostok by ships
South Korean intelligence announced on Friday that 1,500 North Korean soldiers had been transferred to Russia. Accordingly, they will complete training in eastern Russia and will then be sent to the front in Ukraine.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap had previously reported, citing intelligence, that Pyongyang wanted to send a total of “four brigades with 12,000 soldiers, including special forces” to the front in Ukraine.
According to intelligence, ships from the Russian Pacific Fleet are said to have brought the North Korean special forces to Vladivostok. The troops were provided with Russian military uniforms, weapons and fake identification documents before being sent into combat, it said.
Rutte warns of escalation
The USA and NATO have not yet confirmed the reports from South Korea. However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned North Korea against deploying troops alongside Russia in the war of aggression against Ukraine. That “would mean a significant escalation,” he wrote in the online service X.
Rutte had previously spoken on the phone with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Seoul will not stand idly by the “reckless” military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, Yoon’s office said. Yoon said South Korea will soon send a delegation to NATO to exchange information on Russian-North Korean cooperation.
Support for that North Korean Nuclear program?
Russia has always denied reports that North Korean soldiers are already fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. North Korea and Russia have expanded their military relations in recent years. At a summit in June, they signed a mutual defense treaty.
According to military experts, Russia is using, among other things, North Korean missiles in Ukraine, which Moscow and Pyongyang deny. In South Korea, the reports are fueling concerns, experts say, that Russia could provide North Korea with advanced technologies that could significantly improve North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in return for the troops.
