South Korea on Monday urged Russia to take "immediate" action to withdraw North Korean troops from the war in Ukraine after Seoul's spy agency confirmed the North was sending soldiers to Russia to help with the war effort.
First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun summoned Russian Ambassador to Seoul Georgy Zinoviev to voice the government's "serious position" and "strongly call for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and the cessation of related cooperation" with Pyongyang, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Kim noted that their military cooperation, which goes beyond arms supplies, poses a serious threat to South Korea and the international community, and is also a violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun summoned Russian Ambassador to Seoul Georgy Zinoviev to voice the government's "serious position" and "strongly call for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and the cessation of related cooperation" with Pyongyang, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Kim noted that their military cooperation, which goes beyond arms supplies, poses a serious threat to South Korea and the international community, and is also a violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
Kim "condemned in the strongest terms the illegal military cooperation, including the stationing of North Korean troops, and sternly warned that South Korea will respond with all possible means, together with the international community, to any actions that threaten South Korea's core interests," the ministry said.
Zinoviev told Kim Jong-un that cooperation with North Korea “is not directed against the security interests of South Korea,” the Russian embassy in Seoul said in a Facebook post. The ambassador stressed that cooperation “is carried out within the framework of international law” and noted that Russia and South Korea "have opposing positions on the causes of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula," it said. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said last week that the North sent 1,500 troops to the Russian Far East to fight in the war earlier this month Russia is in Ukraine and is preparing to send additional troops. NIS said the North Korean soldiers were supplied with Russian military uniforms and weapons. They are training at a base in Vladivostok and other sites that will be deployed on battlefields, the agency said. The National Intelligence Service released satellite imagery and other photographs that it said showed Russian warships moving near a North Korean port to transport North Korean soldiers. If North Korea's troop deployment does happen, it would be a significant development in its relations with Moscow, as they have established closer ties by signing a new treaty committing them to mutual military support in the event of an attack on either country. The deployment of these forces could mean that in return the North receives aid from Russia in the form of advanced military technology for its weapons programs, as is widely suspected by the United States and its allies. Washington has not confirmed reports of North Korean troops being deployed to Russia, saying there is no evidence and that it is assessing the situation.
Zinoviev told Kim Jong-un that cooperation with North Korea “is not directed against the security interests of South Korea,” the Russian embassy in Seoul said in a Facebook post. The ambassador stressed that cooperation “is carried out within the framework of international law” and noted that Russia and South Korea "have opposing positions on the causes of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula," it said. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said last week that the North sent 1,500 troops to the Russian Far East to fight in the war earlier this month Russia is in Ukraine and is preparing to send additional troops. NIS said the North Korean soldiers were supplied with Russian military uniforms and weapons. They are training at a base in Vladivostok and other sites that will be deployed on battlefields, the agency said. The National Intelligence Service released satellite imagery and other photographs that it said showed Russian warships moving near a North Korean port to transport North Korean soldiers. If North Korea's troop deployment does happen, it would be a significant development in its relations with Moscow, as they have established closer ties by signing a new treaty committing them to mutual military support in the event of an attack on either country. The deployment of these forces could mean that in return the North receives aid from Russia in the form of advanced military technology for its weapons programs, as is widely suspected by the United States and its allies. Washington has not confirmed reports of North Korean troops being deployed to Russia, saying there is no evidence and that it is assessing the situation.
