South Korea on Oct. 21 summoned the Russian ambassador in Seoul, Georgy Zinoviev, to protest the dispatch of North Korean troops to assist Moscow's war against Ukraine, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Seoul and Kyiv accused North Korea of preparing to transfer between 10,000 and 12,000 military personnel to Russia in a sign of deepening military cooperation between the two countries.
Some North Korean troops had reportedly already arrived in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine to share experiences with their Russian counterparts.
South Korea's First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun summoned Zinoviev to call for the "immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and (to) stop relevant cooperation" with North Korea, Yonhap wrote, citing the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
The South Korean diplomat "condemned in the strongest terms the illegal military cooperation, including... (North Korea's) troop deployment, and sternly warned that South Korea will respond with every possible means, with the international community, to any acts that threaten the core interests of South Korea."
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it believes North Korea will deploy four brigades totaling 12,000 soldiers to the war in Ukraine, including 1,500 special forces. It would mark the first time North Korean forces had been deployed to a foreign war.
It remains unclear what steps Seoul is planning to take. Yonhap reported in June that South Korea is mulling openly providing arms supplies to Ukraine in response to deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
The Kremlin has previously denied the reports of North Korean troop dispatch as fake news. The U.S. is yet to confirm the presence of the North Korean troops in Russia or Ukraine, though a senior U.S. lawmaker said such a step would mean crossing a "red line" and urged immediate action.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
