Protests About North Korean Troops, South Korea Summons Russian Ambassador

Illustration of South Korea and Russia. (Twitter/@RusEmb_Korea)

JAKARTA - South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador in Seoul on Monday, protesting what it called sending North Korean troops to Russia to be stationed in Ukraine.

South Korea's first Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-Kyun summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev and urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops from Russia, the ministry said in a statement.

Kim said North Korean troop participation in the war in Ukraine violated UN resolutions and the UN Charter poses a serious threat to South Korea's and surrounding security.

"We condemn North Korea's illegal military cooperation, including sending its troops to Russia, with the strongest words," the ministry said, citing Kim's statement.

"We will respond together with the international community by mobilizing all available ways to counter actions that threaten our core security interests."

Meanwhile, Ambassador Zinoviev told Kim the cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is in line with international law and is not aimed at countering South Korea's security interests, the Russian Embassy said in a Facebook post.

The Kremlin has previously rejected South Korean statements regarding the possibility that North Korea has sent several military personnel to help Russia fight Ukraine.

Separately, the Kremlin refused to immediately answer questions about whether North Korean troops would fight in Ukraine, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's cooperation with Pyongyang was not aimed at third countries.

Earlier, South Korea's spy agency said last week North Korea may have sent 1.500 special forces to Russia's Far East for training and aclimatization at a local military base, with the possibility of being deployed for war battles in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 troops to Russia, calling for strong reactions from countries on Sunday.

The United States said on Friday it could not confirm reports North Korean troops were fighting but said that if true, it would be a "dangerous development" in Russia's war against Ukraine.

South Korea's Ministry of Defense said on Monday Seoul had consulted with Washington prior to the announcement of the spy agency, condemning what it called North Korea's illegal involvement in Ukraine and urging an immediate cessation.