By North Korea announced Tuesday that its foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, is visiting Russia, further signaling the deepening relations between the two countries as rival South Korea and Western nations accuse the North of sending thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that Choe departed for Russia on Monday but did not specify the purpose of the visit. In a closed-door hearing at South Korea’s parliament, the country’s spy agency suggested that Choe may be involved in high-level discussions regarding the deployment of additional troops to Russia and the potential benefits North Korea could receive in return, according to lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, who attended the meeting.
The announcement of Choe’s visit coincided with a statement from the Pentagon, which claimed that North Korea has sent approximately 10,000 troops to Russia, expected to arrive on Ukrainian battlefields within “the next several weeks.” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh revealed that some of the North Korean soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine and were believed to be heading for the Kursk border region, where Russia has been struggling to repel a Ukrainian incursion.
South Korean and Western leaders have expressed concerns that North Korean involvement could help prolong Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and that Russia may offer technology in return, potentially advancing the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
According to lawmakers briefed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the spy agency is examining the possibility that some groups of North Korea’s military personnel in Russia, including generals or other high-ranking officials, may have already moved to frontline areas. The agency also noted that the two sides appear to be grappling with communication issues, despite the Russian military’s efforts to train North Korean troops on Russian military terminology.
The intelligence service further suggested that space-based reconnaissance is an area where North Korea is likely receiving Russian assistance. This collaboration could prove valuable as North Korea prepares to launch another military reconnaissance satellite following a failed attempt in May, according to lawmaker Park Sun-won.
In a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned that deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia could pose a “major security threat” to Seoul if the North gains access to Russian technology and its troops gain combat experience. The leaders confirmed plans to exchange government delegations to strengthen communication and coordinate their responses to the conflict.
Yoon also called for closer coordination with European governments to monitor and block illegal exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow during calls with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Initially, both North Korea and Russia denied claims about North Korean troop deployments, but they have since adopted a more ambiguous stance, asserting that their military cooperation conforms with international law without directly admitting the presence of North Korean forces in Russia.
North Korea has also been accused of providing millions of artillery shells and other military equipment to Russia to fuel its war in Ukraine. The United States and its partners have described Russia’s procurement of North Korean personnel and supplies as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and raised suspicions that Moscow is helping Pyongyang evade sanctions and unlawfully finance its weapons program.
Russia, along with China, has blocked U.S.-led efforts at the Security Council to tighten sanctions on North Korea over its recent missile testing activities, which intensified after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In March, Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution to extend the mandate of a panel of monitors, effectively abolishing oversight by U.N. experts of Security Council sanctions against North Korea and prompting Western accusations that Moscow was acting to shield its arms purchases from Pyongyang.
President Yoon, in a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on Tuesday, emphasized the potential security threat posed by the illegal military collusion between Russia and North Korea, stating that South Korea must thoroughly examine all possibilities and prepare countermeasures. He also raised the possibility of supplying Ukraine with weapons, noting that Seoul is preparing countermeasures that could be rolled out in stages depending on the degree of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
As a growing arms exporter, South Korea has provided humanitarian aid and other non-lethal support to Ukraine while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. However, it has so far resisted calls by Kyiv and NATO to directly supply Ukraine with weapons, citing a longstanding policy of not providing arms to countries engaged in active conflict.
The deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia have raised alarm bells in the international community, with concerns that the collaboration could escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and beyond. As the situation continues to unfold, the world will be closely watching the actions of all parties involved and the potential implications for global security.
apnews.com
