South Korea, DPRK in DPR, or all Koreans to mix and unite in Ukraine

On October 8, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun announced that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, commonly known as North Korea) had transferred troops to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later announced that the DPRK had effectively become a party to the conflict.

Photo: flickr.com by jennybento from Jackson Heights, usa, CC BY-SA 2.0

First reports about the transfer of North Korean troops to Ukraine appeared after Russia and the DPRK signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. The parties agreed to immediately provide mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of them.

Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine was in a state of war with the DPRK.

"Ukraine is at war with three countries — Russia, Iran and the DPRK," he said.

South Korean National Intelligence Service published satellite images of Russian training grounds in the Far East on its website. The photos were taken on October 16. They allegedly show North Korean soldiers undergoing training before being sent to Ukraine.

The department stated that the first 1,500 North Korean special forces allegedly arrived in Vladivostok from October 8 to 13.

South Korean President Yun Seok-yol held a meeting on the issue and called it a "serious security threat."

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev in connection with reports about the alleged movement of North Korean troops. Details of the meeting are still unknown.

South Korea to send its troops to Ukraine as well

South Korea may soon send its military and intelligence personnel to Ukraine, Newsweek said. It is believed that the South Korean military men will participate in interrogations or provide translation services should Ukrainian servicemen capture North Korean fighters.

A source in the South Korean government told Yonhap news agency that Seoul may also send lethal weapons to Ukraine and gradually increase assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It goes about the transfer of air defense systems and other non-lethal aid in the first place.

'Badly behaved dogs'

The DPRK mission to the UN denied rumours about its troops in Russia and called the allegations unfounded. Such statements come as an attempt to undermine relations between the two sovereign states, the mission said.

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, called South Korea and Ukraine "badly behaved dogs raised by the United States."

Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the information about the presence of North Korean military personnel in the zone of the special military operation contradictory. All questions related to the topic should be addressed to the Russian Defense Ministry, he also said.

Back in 2023, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that reports about volunteers from North Korea being sent to the zone of the special military operation were unreliable.

"I want to say that this is complete nonsense,” the head of state said.

On Friday afternoon, October 18, a post about the alleged dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia appeared on the Telegram channel of the Russian Foreign Ministry office in Vladivostok (the Far East). The caption to the post said: "Scared?" Interestingly, the Russian Foreign Ministry later said that the post had been made by mistake.

In response to Zelensky's statements, the Russian military installed a banner resembling the national flag of the DPRK in the area of ​​the village of Tsukurino in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, following a telephone conversation with South Korean President Yun Seok-yol, said that the crisis in Ukraine may escalate due to the alleged participation of North Korean troops in the conflict. Yet, NATO had no evidence of their presence in Ukraine.

US officials called the transfer of DPRK troops to Russia an extremely alarming development. According to coordinator for strategic communications at the US National Security Council John Kirby, intelligence services continue to study the statements.

American entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk said that the conflict could escalate due to the possible dispatch of South Korean military men to Ukraine. "It seems that the situation in Ukraine is escalating,” he said.

Details

North Korea officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.