EGN NEWS DESK
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president on Thursday raised the potential for supplying Ukraine with weapons whereas stressing that his authorities “received’t sit idle” as North Korea allegedly sends troops to assist Russia’s aggression towards its neighbor.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke to reporters after a gathering with Polish President Andrzej Duda that got here a day after U.S. and South Korean officers stated they imagine round 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are coaching at a number of places. South Korea’s spy company informed lawmakers that North Korea possible goals to ship a complete of 10,000 troops to Russia by the top of the yr.
Yoon’s assembly with Duda was centered on increasing protection cooperation between the international locations amid the continued battle. Poland has signed a collection of arms offers with South Korea within the final two years to accumulate tanks, howitzers and missile launchers in an effort to bolster its navy capabilities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the presence of North Korean troops.
Yoon stated South Korea will work with allies and companions to arrange countermeasures that might be rolled out in levels relying on the diploma of navy cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Seoul’s steps might probably embody sending weapons to Ukraine, which might mark a departure from a long-standing coverage of not supplying weapons to international locations actively engaged in battle, Yoon stated. He stated North Korea’s alleged troop deployment to Russia is a “provocation that threatens international safety past simply the Korean Peninsula and Europe.”
“If North Korea dispatches particular forces to the Ukraine conflict as a part of Russia-North Korea cooperation, we’ll assist Ukraine in levels and likewise assessment and implement measures needed for safety on the Korean Peninsula,” Yoon stated throughout a joint press convention with Duda.
“While we’ve maintained our precept of in a roundabout way supplying deadly weapons, we are able to additionally assessment our stance extra flexibly, relying on the extent of North Korean navy actions,” Yoon stated.
Yoon’s feedback aligned with what a senior presidential official informed reporters on situation of anonymity earlier this week. That official stated South Korea is contemplating varied diplomatic, financial and navy choices, together with supplying Ukraine with each defensive and offensive weapons programs.
South Korea, a rising arms exporter, has offered humanitarian assist and different non-lethal assist to Ukraine and joined U.S.-led financial sanctions in opposition to Moscow. It has up to now resisted calls by Kyiv and NATO to straight provide Ukraine with weapons.
During their summit, Yoon and Duda agreed to “actively assist” further deliveries of South Korean navy gear to Poland, together with a brand new deal for Korean Ok-2 tanks the governments hope to finalize inside this yr, Yoon’s workplace stated.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened since 2022 after North Korean chief Kim Jong Un used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to speed up the expansion of his nuclear weapons and missile program.
Seoul additionally worries as consultants say the North might search main know-how transfers in return for sending troops, together with Russian know-how on intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarines that might advance the risk posed by Kim’s nuclear arsenal.
Experts say it’s unclear how efficient the North Korean troopers could be in fight, contemplating their lack of energetic battlefield expertise, outdated typical weaponry and coaching expertise with Russian forces. Kim may even see the troop dispatch as an important alternative to reveal his troopers to fashionable warfare and applied sciences, stated Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.
During a parliamentary listening to, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun stated that North Korean troops would possible grow to be “cannon fodder” when deployed in fight in Ukraine and denounced Pyongyang’s management for “promoting away its troops to an unlawful invasion.”
“Troop deployment is only a phrase, and it could be extra applicable to name them as mercenaries,” he stated. “The North Koreans are disguising themselves in Russian uniforms and working below Russian management with no operational autonomy, simply merely following orders.”
