South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador on Monday (Oct 21) to criticise Pyongyang’s decision to send thousands of soldiers to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the international ministry mentioned, calling for his or her speedy withdrawal.
In Pyongyang’s first such deployment abroad, about 1,500 North Korean particular forces troopers are already in Russia acclimatising and prone to head to the entrance strains after, Seoul’s spy company mentioned Friday, with further troops set to depart quickly.
South Korea has lengthy claimed the nuclear-armed North is supplying Russia with weapons to be used in Ukraine, whereas chief Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a navy deal in June.
Seoul expressed its “grave considerations concerning North Korea’s current dispatch of troops to Russia and strongly urged the speedy withdrawal of North Korean forces”, vice international minister Kim Hong-kyun instructed Russian ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev.
Seoul’s spy company launched detailed satellite tv for pc pictures exhibiting the primary batch of 1,500 North Korean particular forces from the elite “Storm Corps” had arrived in Vladivostok on Russian navy vessels.
Any navy cooperation between the 2 international locations violates a number of Safety Council resolutions, Kim mentioned.
Russian ambassador Zinovyev “burdened that cooperation between Russia and North Korea … is just not directed in opposition to the pursuits of South Korea’s safety”, the embassy mentioned in an announcement.
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, additionally mentioned Monday that Moscow will “proceed growing this cooperation additional”.
“North Korea is our shut neighbour and companion and we develop relations in all areas and it is our sovereign proper,” he instructed journalists in Moscow, whereas declining to touch upon whether or not Russia is utilizing North Korean troops.
Additionally Monday, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke to NATO chief Mark Rutte, urging the alliance to take “concrete countermeasures” in opposition to rising Russia-North Korea cooperation.
NATO, which has not but confirmed the North Korean troop deployments, mentioned that it “would mark a major escalation” within the battle, Rutte mentioned on X.
British international minister David Lammy, who was in Seoul on Monday, referred to as Russia’s actions “reckless and unlawful” and added that London would work with Seoul to reply, in accordance with Yoon’s workplace.
