SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president on Thursday raised the potential of supplying Ukraine with weapons whereas stressing that his authorities “gained’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 mentioned they consider round 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are coaching at a number of areas. South Korea’s spy company informed lawmakers that North Korea seemingly goals to ship a complete of 10,000 troops to Russia by the tip of the 12 months.
Yoon’s assembly with Duda was targeted on increasing protection cooperation between the nations amid the continued battle. Poland has signed a collection of arms offers with South Korea within the final two years to amass tanks, howitzers and missile launchers in an effort to bolster its army capabilities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Each Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the presence of North Korean troops.
Yoon mentioned South Korea will work with allies and companions to organize countermeasures that may very well be rolled out in phases relying on the diploma of army cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
Seoul’s steps may probably embrace sending weapons to Ukraine, which might mark a departure from a long-standing coverage of not supplying weapons to nations actively engaged in battle, Yoon mentioned. He mentioned North Korea’s alleged troop deployment to Russia is a “provocation that threatens world safety past simply the Korean Peninsula and Europe.”
“If North Korea dispatches particular forces to the Ukraine warfare as a part of Russia-North Korea cooperation, we’ll assist Ukraine in phases and in addition overview and implement measures crucial for safety on the Korean Peninsula,” Yoon mentioned throughout a joint press convention with Duda.
“Whereas now we have maintained our precept of circuitously supplying deadly weapons, we are able to additionally overview our stance extra flexibly, relying on the extent of North Korean army actions,” Yoon mentioned.
Yoon’s feedback aligned with what a senior presidential official informed reporters on situation of anonymity earlier this week. That official mentioned South Korea is contemplating numerous diplomatic, financial and army choices, together with supplying Ukraine with each defensive and offensive weapons techniques.
South Korea, a rising arms exporter, has offered humanitarian help and different non-lethal assist to Ukraine and joined U.S.-led financial sanctions towards Moscow. It has to date resisted calls by Kyiv and NATO to immediately provide Ukraine with weapons.
Throughout their summit, Yoon and Duda agreed to “actively assist” extra deliveries of South Korean army tools to Poland, together with a brand new deal for Korean Ok-2 tanks the governments hope to finalize inside this 12 months, Yoon’s workplace mentioned.
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 could search main expertise 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.
Consultants say it’s unclear how efficient the North Korean troopers can be in fight, contemplating their lack of energetic battlefield expertise, outdated standard weaponry and coaching expertise with Russian forces. Kim might even see the troop dispatch as a vital alternative to reveal his troopers to trendy warfare and applied sciences, mentioned Hong Min, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for Nationwide Unification.
Throughout a parliamentary listening to, South Korean Protection Minister Kim Yong Hyun mentioned that North Korean troops would seemingly 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 might be extra acceptable to name them as mercenaries,” he mentioned. “The North Koreans are disguising themselves in Russian uniforms and working beneath Russian management with no operational autonomy, simply merely following orders.”
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