South Korea calls for immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops in Russia

South Korea connected Monday demanded the contiguous pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed successful Russia arsenic it summoned the Russian ambassador to protestation deepening subject practice betwixt Pyongyang and Moscow.

South Korea’s spy bureau said Friday it had confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 peculiar cognition forces to Russia earlier this period to enactment Moscow's warfare against Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said his authorities had quality that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were being prepared to articulation invading Russian forces.

During a gathering with Russian ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, South Korea’s vice-foreign curate Kim Hong Kyun “condemned successful the strongest terms” North Korea's unit dispatch that helium said poses “a sedate information threat” to South Korea and the planetary community, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said successful a statement.

Kim said that South Korea, successful collaboration with the planetary community, volition mobilise each disposable means to woody with an enactment that threatens its captious nationalist information interests. Zinoviev replied helium would relay South Korea’s presumption to his location government, according to the South Korean statement.

The Russian Embassy quotes Zinoviev arsenic saying that the Russian-North Korean practice is conducted successful accordance with planetary laws and is not aimed against the information interests of South Korea.

The US and Nato haven’t confirmed that North Korean troops were sent to Russia. But the reports of their beingness person already stoked concerns successful South Korea that Russia mightiness supply North Korea with blase technologies that tin sharply heighten its atomic and rocket programs successful instrumentality for the troops.

North Korea’s advancing atomic arsenal is simply a large information menace to South Korea. North Korean person Kim Jong Un precocious took steps to permanently terminate each relations with South Korea and threatened to usage atomic weapons preemptively. Some observers accidental South Korea volition apt see supplying weapons to Ukraine if Russian transfers of high-tech atomic and rocket technologies to North Korea are verified.

South Korea has joined US-led sanctions against Moscow implicit its penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022. But it hasn’t straight provided arms to Kyiv, citing a longstanding argumentation of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged successful conflicts.

Russia has earlier denied utilizing North Korean troops successful its warfare with Ukraine. North Korea’s authorities media hasn’t commented connected the matter.

North Korea’s unit deployment to Russia would beryllium its archetypal information successful a large warfare since the extremity of the 1950-53 Korean War. Many experts question however overmuch North Korean troops would assistance Russia connected the battlefield, citing their deficiency of combat experience.

Cooperation betwixt North Korea and Russia has flourished implicit the past 2 years. The US, South Korea and their partners person accused North Korea of supplying accepted arms to Russia successful instrumentality for economical and subject assistance. In June, Kim and Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating communal subject assistance if either state is attacked.

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report