South Korea's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul on Monday and urged an "immediate" withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from the war in Ukraine.
"We condemn North Korea's illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms," said South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun in a press release, calling for an "immediate withdrawal" of the troops.
The minister warned the Russian ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev that Seoul will respond by mobilizing "all available means in cooperation with the international community to any acts that threaten the core interests of South Korea."
Zinoviev responded in a Facebook post that the cooperation with North Korea is "not directed against South Korea's security interests" and that "it is in line with international law."
South Korea's spy agency said Friday it believes North Korea has already begun deploying four brigades totaling 12,000 troops, including special forces, to the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The country's President Yoon Suk Yeol called the involvement "a grave security threat to the world."
Pyongyang and Moscow have stepped up their military cooperation since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June. The agreement commits both countries to provide military assistance to each other if either is attacked.
The first unverified videos of North Korean soldiers at a military base in Russia were published Friday by pro-Kremlin military bloggers on Telegram.
The Kremlin has previously called the footage of North Korean soldiers "fake news." Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said the Americans and South Koreans were providing "contradictory information" about Russia's use of Pyongyang's soldiers.
"The DPRK is our close neighbor, our partner, and we are developing our relations in all areas, and this is our sovereign right. This should not cause any concerns for anyone, because this cooperation is not directed against third countries. We will continue to develop this cooperation," Peskov added.
NATO on Monday requested that South Korea send a delegation to brief the transatlantic military alliance on the North Korean troop deployments.
Politico
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