Seoul demands ‘immediate withdrawal’ of North Korean troops in Russia
Al Jazeera
South Korea summons Russian ambassador over Pyongyang’s alleged dispatch of soldiers to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
South Korea has summoned the Russian ambassador to criticise Pyongyang’s decision to send hundreds of soldiers to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says as it calls for their immediate withdrawal.
In Pyongyang’s first such deployment overseas, about 1,500 special forces soldiers have arrived in Russia and are likely to head to the front lines after acclimatising, Seoul’s spy agency said Friday, adding that additional forces are set to depart soon.
South Korea has long accused the nuclear-armed North of supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, signed a military deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.
Seoul expressed its “grave concerns regarding North Korea’s recent dispatch of troops to Russia and strongly urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean forces”, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun told Russian Ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev on Monday.
Seoul’s spy agency released detailed satellite images showing what it said was the first batch of 1,500 North Korean special forces from the elite “Storm Corps” to arrive in Vladivostok on Russian military vessels.
