South Korea He put it back on the table possibility of delivering weapons to Ukraine if North Korea and Russia execute a new defense agreement and assured that the limit to decide is the possible delivery of Russian precision ammunition to Pyongyang’s forces.
“Right now everything depends on what Russia does”said South Korean National Security Advisor Chang Ho Jin to the South Korean network KBS. “What line would we have left to cross if Moscow delivers precision weapons to North Korea?”.
The security advisor thus reiterated what was raised by some voices from the South Korean security leadership after the signing of the strategic defense agreement that were sealed this week by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putinand the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, during the former’s visit to Pyongyang. Seoul, which is a major arms exporter, had already said in the week that it would “reconsider” the long-standing policy prohibiting it from supplying arms directly to Ukraine. Putin warned South Korea that this would be a “big mistake”.
The Russian president also said that Moscow did not rule out military and technical cooperation with the Northor even the shipment of weaponsall of which would violate UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
The security adviser asked Putin to reconsider his position. “If it is true that you want to restore and progress relations with us”Chang added, “I would like the Russian side to think about it very calmly”.
The signing of the pact between Putin and Kim, which provides mutual assistance in case of aggressionset off alarms in Seoul, which protested on Friday summoning the Russian ambassador Georgy Zinoviev and urged Russia to “immediately” end military cooperation with North Korea and comply with UN resolutions. UN Security Council.
He also urged Russia to live up to its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Security Council, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Violating Security Council resolutions and supporting North Korea will harm our security and will inevitably have a negative impact on Korea-Russia relations,” declared the first vice minister. Kim Hong-kyun, according to the statement.
North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 for its banned nuclear program. The measures were initially supported by Russia, but Putin said in Pyongyang that the sanctions needed to be reviewed now.
Moscow and Pyongyang have been allies since the founding of North Korea after World War II and have grown even closer since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine isolated Putin on the world stage.
The spat between Seoul and Moscow comes amid growing tensions between North Korea and South Korea During the last months. Pyongyang and Seoul are still technically at warsince the Korean War (1950-1953) ended with an armistice, with no definitive agreement since then.
In this context, An American aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Saturday to participate in joint military exercises aimed at better countering North Korean threats. Pyongyang usually describes these maneuvers as “provocation.”
The aircraft carrier arrived a day after Seoul said it had carried out warning shots as North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the borderheavily fortified, in the third such raid this month.
According to the South Korean military, North Korean soldiers have recently carried out activities such as placing more land minesthe reinforcement of tactical roads and the addition of what appeared to be anti-tank barriers near the border.
The two Koreas have also engaged in a “balloon war””, in which an activist from the South confirmed on Friday that he had floated more propaganda balloons towards the North.
Pyongyang has already sent more than a thousand garbage balloons to the South, and Kim Yo-jong, Kim’s powerful sister warned Friday that the North is likely to retaliate.
