The government of this country, a major arms exporter, had already indicated that it was studying the possibility of sending weapons directly to kyiv, in response to the deployment of soldiers by Pyongyang to support Moscow in its war against 'Ukraine. It has opposed it until now because of a long-standing national policy that prevents it from supplying weapons to countries engaged in active conflicts.
“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in several stages,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a news conference in Seoul. “This means that we do not exclude the possibility of providing weapons,” he added, specifying, without saying more, that “if we engage in arms support, we consider weapons as a priority defensive”.
11,000 North Korean soldiers deployed
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed in the Russian region of Kursk, bordering Ukraine, to support the Kremlin forces. During the same conference, Mr. Yoon said he had agreed, during a telephone exchange with US President-elect Donald Trump, to a meeting which would take place “in the near future”.
War in Ukraine: what can North Korea bring to Russia?
The sending of 10,000 to 12,000 North Korean soldiers to Russia raises questions. Without experience of high-intensity warfare, and not speaking the same language, their possible military added value in Ukraine remains to be demonstrated. On the other hand, this contingent would have much more to learn from the Russians. Decryption
“I think we will have the opportunity to meet during this year,” he said. During this telephone exchange, the two heads of state discussed several topics related to North Korea, such as “the sending of more than 7,000 garbage balloons, the jamming of GPS” and the North Korean missile launches. , noted Mr. Yoon.
On Wednesday, the upper house of the Russian Parliament ratified a mutual defense treaty with North Korea, concluded during a rare visit by Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang in June, which notably provides for “immediate military aid” reciprocal in the event of attack against one of the two countries.
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