SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) — Vice Unification Minister Kim Soo-kyung said Tuesday that Russia’s prolonged war with Ukraine is not a distant conflict but a war that could “directly” affect South Korea’s security.
Kim made the remarks in an interview with cable news channel MBN as the United States said North Korea has sent about 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia, spawning concerns about a possible expansion in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“The war between Ukraine and Russia is not a distant conflict happening elsewhere; it is directly connected to our security. We are engaging in in-depth discussions on how to respond accordingly,” Kim said.
She said if Russia transfers advanced military technology to North Korea in return for Pyongyang’s troop dispatch, including reentry technology of an intercontinental ballistic missile, it could pose a grave threat to the security of the Korean Peninsula.
The vice minister said the government will prepare various response scenarios and options, coordinating closely within the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
“(The deployment) appears to be a move aimed at maximizing the North’s strategic value, especially as a potential end to the war is being speculated after the U.S. presidential election,” she said.
Earlier in the day, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that North Korea’s troop deployment in Russia constituted security threats to both South Korea and the world.
The North’s troops may soon be ready for battlefield deployment against Ukrainian forces.
Vice Unification Minister Kim Soo-kyung (Yonhap)
khj@yna.co.kr
(END)
