South Korea summons Russian envoy
South Korea's foreign ministry summoned on Monday the Russian ambassador in Seoul in protest over what it has called the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine and pledged a joint international response, News.Az reports citing Reuters.
South Korea's first vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun called in Georgy Zinoviev, the top Russian envoy to Seoul, and urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
Kim said the participation of North Korean troops in the war in Ukraine violated U.N. resolutions and the U.N. charter and posed serious threats to the security of South Korea and beyond.
"We condemn North Korea's illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms," the ministry quoted Kim as saying.
"We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilising all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests."
Phone calls to the Russian embassy went unanswered. The ministry said Zinoviev told Kim that he would relay the message to Moscow.
South Korea's spy agency said last week that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia's Far East for training and acclimatising at local military bases and they will likely be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to Russia, and on Sunday called for strong reaction from countries that have acknowledged North Korea's increasing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
South Korea's first vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun called in Georgy Zinoviev, the top Russian envoy to Seoul, and urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
Kim said the participation of North Korean troops in the war in Ukraine violated U.N. resolutions and the U.N. charter and posed serious threats to the security of South Korea and beyond.
"We condemn North Korea's illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms," the ministry quoted Kim as saying.
"We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilising all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests."
Phone calls to the Russian embassy went unanswered. The ministry said Zinoviev told Kim that he would relay the message to Moscow.
South Korea's spy agency said last week that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia's Far East for training and acclimatising at local military bases and they will likely be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to Russia, and on Sunday called for strong reaction from countries that have acknowledged North Korea's increasing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
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