SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Friday North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia is a grave security threat to the international community and it will respond to the move with all available means, the presidential office said in a statement.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held an unscheduled security meeting with key intelligence, military and national security officials to discuss North Korean troops’ involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine, it said.
“The participants … shared the view that the current situation where Russia and North Korea’s closer ties have gone beyond the movement of military supplies to actual dispatch of troops is a grave security threat not only to our country but to the international community,” it said.
South Korean officials have said it was likely true that some North Korean personnel were in Russia and involved in its war with Ukraine, but have not given a clear answer on the nature or the scale of any such deployment.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused North Korea on Thursday of deploying officers alongside Russia and preparing to send thousands of troops to help Moscow’s war effort, although NATO’s chief Mark Rutte said there was no evidence of Pyongyang’s presence at this stage.
Since their summit in the Russian far east last year, North Korea and Russia have dramatically upgraded their military ties and their leaders met in June to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership that includes a mutual defence pact.
South Korean and U.S. officials have said North Korea has been supplying ballistic missiles and other munitions to Russia.
Russia and North Korea both deny they have engaged in arms transfers.
The Kremlin has also dismissed South Korean assertions that North Korea may have sent some military personnel to help Russia against Ukraine.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)
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