During a meeting with U.S. leadership, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that North Korea has something to do with the Ukraine-Russia war, directly and indirectly, Yonhap News Agency reported on Nov. 12.
The South Korean President invited U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr. to the presidential residence in Seoul.
President Yoon emphasized the importance of allies' combined defense position against North Korean provocations.
According to Yonhap, President Yoon also said that the "Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Hamas conflict have something to do with North Korea, directly and indirectly."
Secretary Austin reportedly reaffirmed President Biden's commitment to further strengthening the robust South Korea-US alliance.
Earlier this week, South Korean military officials announced that North Korea may have provided Russia with short-range ballistic missiles, together with artillery shells and other weaponry.
The South Korean government estimates that Pyongyang shipped around 2,000 containers of weapons and munitions to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East. This is a notable increase from the 1,000 containers reported by the White House on Oct. 13.
North Korea and Russia have been growing closer in recent months as the Kremlin seeks to boost its arms capacities amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
