A South Korean delegation of senior intelligence and military officials that briefed both NATO and the EU in Brussels last week on South Korean intelligence on the alleged North Korean troop deployment to Russia, afterwards traveled on to Kiev. “The delegation will return home around Monday,” Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told reporters during his visit to Washington last Wednesday, Oct. 30 reported the Korea JoonGang Daily. “Once they arrive, we will compile various reports, set a direction based on the reports and take necessary measures in conjunction with the international community.” So far, the “necessary measures” refer only to send an observational or monitoring team to Ukraine to better track the movements of the North Korean troops and do not yet include South Korea sending weapons to the Kiev regime.
Last Friday, Nov. 1, the report continues, National Security Office Director Shin Won-sik appeared at the National Assembly Steering Committee’s parliamentary audit and said, “We also think that it is essential to dispatch an observer team and an analysis team to understand how modern warfare is being conducted.” An observation team could also play a role in interrogating North Korean soldiers captured as prisoners of war by the Ukrainian military.
The Defense Ministry official also indicated that discussions related to the supply of air defense systems by South Korea to Ukraine could also occur. “There is nothing specific to say at the moment, but it is expected that there will be related discussions at the government level,” a Defense Ministry official said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was in Seoul this morning where he and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun expressed “serious concerns” about North Korea’s reported troop dispatch and “strongly condemned” it, according to a statement from the South Korean Defense Ministry, reported AP. The two agreed to work together with the international community to try to obstruct Russian-North Korean security cooperation, the statement said.
