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In April of this year, Kyiv and Seoul signed an agreement enabling Ukraine to attract up to $2.1 billion in concessional loans over 2024-2029.
"For the Republic of Korea, these actions pose a serious threat, as North Korean troops are gaining combat experience, which could present additional security challenges in the region in the future," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said following his visit to South Korea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Seoul on Nov. 27 to discuss the deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrived in South Korea on Nov. 27, with the aim of requesting military aid from Seoul, several media outlets reported.
South Korea's national security advisor Shin Won-sik on Nov. 22 said Moscow had provided Pyongyang with economic and military technology in exchange for the troops.
South Korea did not provide artillery shells of its own production, nor did it make financial contributions to the purchase of shells from other countries under the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine from third countries.
Key developments on Nov. 7: * Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia kills 9, injures 42, damages hospital * Ukraine may have targeted Iranian weapon supply routes in Dagestan strike, media suggests * South Korea "not ruling out" supplying arms to Ukraine, president says * Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, causes fires in five
"Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases," South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told the media. "This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons."
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a phone call on Nov. 7 after the former won the U.S. presidential election, discussing future cooperation.
"Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an existential threat. The Republic of Korea is best positioned to understand it," Josep Borrell said on X after meeting South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun.
North Korean soldiers are believed to receive $2,000 per month for their service from Russia, adding up to a total of at least $200 million annually if calculated by 10,000 soldiers, Wi Sung-lac, a member of the South Korean parliamentary intelligence committee, told The Korea Herald.
In a lengthy post on social media on Oct. 31, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western allies to develop "concrete solutions" to provide additional supports for Ukraine as North Korean troops prepare to engage Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. North Korean soldiers were deployed to Kursk Oblast in late October in
"The evidence now suggests the that North Korea has sent about 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Oct. 30. "And some of these DPRK troops have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are seeing them outfitted with Russian uniforms and provided with Russian equipment."
Key developments on Oct. 30: * North Korean soldiers 50 km from Ukraine's border, including special forces, FT reports * Ukraine should strike back if North Korean troops cross into its territory, Biden says * No confidentiality between partners — Zelensky calls out White House over Tomahawk missiles leak * Kremlin denies Russia-Ukraine talks on
Seoul has not received such a request from the Ukrainian side, and the matter is not under consideration, a source in the Presidential Office told the South Korean news agency.
During the phone call, the presidents agreed to "strengthen the sharing of intelligence and expertise and to intensify contacts on all levels, including on the highest level, to develop a response strategy and a list of countermeasures," the Ukrainian president said.
The assessment comes shortly after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed on Oct. 28 that North Korea had sent troops to Russia following a meeting with South Korean defense and intelligence officials.
A South Korean delegation will visit Ukraine in the second part of the week to share information on North Korea's troops in Russia and discuss cooperation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Oct. 28, the Yonhap news agency reported.
A group of almost 200 ex-North Korean soldiers asked to be deployed in Ukraine to help demoralize and influence Pyongyang's troops joining the war on Russia's side, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Oct. 28.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said he had talked to Kyiv about the possible transfer of South Korean weapons but that his response to the allies was "unequivocal."
South Korean law prohibits the exporting of weapons to active conflict zones, but Seoul has repeatedly hinted that this could change in light of deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
South Korea has hinted it could change its long-standing stance on not providing Ukraine directly with weapons in light of the dramatic escalation of North Korea's role in Russia's full-scale invasion. So far, Seoul has only provided humanitarian and non-lethal military aid to Kyiv, but on Oct. 22, a South
"Signs of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October," Park Sun-won, a member of a parliamentary intelligence committee, said.
Key developments on Oct. 22: * US to provide Ukraine with another $800 million to boost domestic long-range capabilities, Zelensky says * Ukrainian drones target Russian alcohol plants overnight, local authorities claim * North Korea has sent pilots to Russia to join its war in Ukraine, Newsweek reports * South Korea considering sending military
"While watching signs of North Korea-Russia military cooperation, the response measures will be taken in steps," a government source told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Russia's war in Ukraine is on the verge of escalating dramatically, with multiple reports, intelligence assessments, and a video suggesting North Korean troops could soon be fighting alongside Kremlin forces. While Pyongyang has long supplied Moscow with weaponry, the deployment of boots on the ground would mark a significant development
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.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it believes North Korea will deploy four brigades totalling 12,000 soldiers to the war in Ukraine, including special forces.
"There will be no war of the 1953 model. I am talking about Korean War. It ended in summer 2023 in Ukraine, when two professional armies of more than a million personnel each faced each other in the battlefield," said Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the U.K.
The move came after Russia and China have blocked monitoring activities at the United Nations. In March, Moscow vetoed the annual renewal of the panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Earlier in October, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun told lawmakers that North Korea was likely planning to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia.
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