South Korea is calling for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops allegedly stationed in Russia

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea on Monday called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops it said were stationed in Russia as it summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

South Korean intelligence said Friday it had confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 special forces to Russia earlier this month to support Moscow's war against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said his government had information that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were being prepared to join invading Russian forces.

During a meeting with Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun “strongly condemned” North Korea's troop deployment as he said it posed a “serious security threat” to South Korea and the international community, the South Korean Foreign Ministry shared the ministry said in a statement.

Kim said South Korea, working with the international community, would mobilize all available resources to deal with an act that threatens its vital national security interests. Zinoviev responded that he would communicate South Korea's position to his home government, the South Korean statement said.

The Russian Embassy quotes Zinoviev as saying that Russian-North Korean cooperation is carried out in accordance with international laws and is not directed against South Korea's security interests.

The US and NATO have not confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia. But reports of their presence have already fueled fears in South Korea that Russia could provide North Korea with sophisticated technologies that could significantly improve its nuclear and missile programs in return for the troops.

North Korea's advancing nuclear arsenal poses a major security threat to South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently taken steps to permanently sever all relations with South Korea and threatened to preemptively use nuclear weapons. Some observers believe that if Russian transfers of high-tech nuclear and missile technologies to North Korea are confirmed, South Korea will likely consider arms sales to Ukraine.

South Korea has joined US-led sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, it has not directly supplied Kiev with weapons, citing a longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively involved in conflicts.

Russia has previously denied using North Korean troops in the war with Ukraine. North Korea's state media did not comment on the matter.

North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia would be North Korea's first involvement in a major war since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Many experts question how much North Korean troops would help Russia on the battlefield, citing their lack of combat experience.

Cooperation between North Korea and Russia has flourished in the past two years. The United States, South Korea and their partners accuse North Korea of ​​supplying conventional weapons to Russia in return for economic and military aid. In June, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement providing for mutual military assistance in the event of an attack on either country.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.