The South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to the Asian country this Monday (21) to express Seoul’s dissatisfaction with the transfer of North Korean troops to Russian territory with the apparent aim of transferring them to the front line in Ukraine, supporting Moscow in the invasion.
South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hong-kyun conveyed the position of the government headed by Yoon Suk-yeol during a meeting with Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, who asked him to request “the immediate withdrawal of troops from the North -Koreans” and to stop collaborating in this regard, according to a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Kim, who recalled that the supply of North Korean weapons to Russia since 2023 is also a violation of UN sanctions against Pyongyang for its weapons of mass destruction programs, “condemned in the strongest terms illegal military cooperation, including sending of North Korean troops”.
The vice foreign minister also warned that South Korea “will respond with all possible means, together with the international community, to any act that threatens the fundamental interests of the Republic of Korea” (South Korea’s official name).
The Russian embassy published a statement on its Facebook page saying that Zinoviev told Kim that cooperation with North Korea is not directed against the interests of the South and is being carried out “within the framework of international law.” Zinoviev also added that Seoul and Moscow have “opposing positions on the reasons behind the current tension on the Korean peninsula.”
Last Friday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) stated that Pyongyang plans to send around 12,000 troops to Ukraine and that 1,500 of them were already transferred last week to Russian military installations in the regions of Primorye, Khabarovsk and Amur, in the Russian Far East.
The NIS released satellite images showing the movement of Russian Navy transport ships between the North Korean northeast coast and the Russian port city of Vladivostok, as well as concentrations of North Korean military personnel at military bases in the Far East.
At the same time, Ukrainian officials have claimed that Moscow plans to send around 10,000 North Korean troops to the Kursk region from November 1 to counter Ukrainian advances.
Russia has denied such allegations as a hoax, while Pyongyang has ignored the issue for now.
Analysts point out that this agreement between North Korea and Russia is in line with the bilateral strategic partnership treaty signed in June, which provides for mutual military assistance if one of the countries is attacked.