South Korea has signaled that it might change its stand on providing arms to Ukraine with growing concerns about the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Seoul’s National Security Council issued the warning on Tuesday after reports emerged that North Korea had deployed troops to assist Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine.
Pyongyang has dismissed these claims as “groundless rumors, but South Korea’s stance doesn’t change. What forms the basis of officials’ belief is that the secret arms deal Russia and North Korea recently arranged is a great security threat, not only regionally but also worldwide.
The South Korean government announced that it will take gradual countermeasures, including the possibility of providing military aid to Ukraine. Until now, it has only provided nonlethal assistance, which is demining equipment. Still, the head of the policy planning division in President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration said they may be able to consider providing weapons for defensive or potentially offensive purposes as the situation unfolds.
Seoul has been under immense pressure in the last months from the West, which appears to give Seoul a recommendation that Seoul get on the “good side” of the West by supporting Ukraine. Meanwhile, North Korea denies everything and chides South Korea for trying to tarnish its international reputation with this farce.
Moscow neither denied nor confirmed the involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine, but claimed that military cooperation with Pyongyang is not at all a source of threat to South Korea’s security.
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