AFP reported that on October 21, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the Russian Ambassador to Seoul to criticize Pyongyang's decision to send thousands of troops to support Moscow's conflict in Ukraine, and called for its immediate withdrawal.
About 1,500 North Korean special forces have arrived in Russia to acclimatize and are likely to head to the front lines soon, while additional forces will soon leave in Pyongyang's first overseas deployment, South Korea's spy agency said.
South Korea expressed concern about Pyongyang's deployment, which comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Russia-North Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in June.
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun expressed Seoul's "deep concern over North Korea's recent troop deployment to Russia, strongly calling for its immediate withdrawal and cessation of related cooperation," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Deputy Minister Kim Hong-kyun told Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev that North Korea's provision of weapons and troops to Russia to participate in the conflict in Ukraine "poses a major security threat not only to South Korea but also to the international community."
Mr. Kim Hong-kyun also emphasized that such actions violate many resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Charter.
Previously, on October 18, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) released satellite images showing elite North Korean soldiers being brought to Vladivostok by Russian military ships.
The NIS said that from October 8 to 13, "North Korea transported its special forces to Russia using Russian Navy transport ships, confirming North Korea's first military involvement" in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The first group of troops - which South Korean media said were from an elite unit of North Korea's Special Operations Forces, also known as the "Storm Corps" - are currently stationed at military bases across Russia's Far East.
According to the NIS, the special forces "are expected to be deployed to the front lines (of the Ukrainian conflict) immediately after completing adaptation training."
The NIS also said that North Korea had "provided Russia with more than 13,000 containers of artillery shells, rockets, anti-tank missiles and other lethal weapons" since August last year.
North Korea and Russia have been allies since the establishment of the DPRK after World War II and have grown closer since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in 2022.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted intelligence reports that North Korea was training 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in its fight against Kiev.
