Skip next section Seoul summons North Korea’s troop dispatch to Russia
10/21/2024October 21, 2024
Seoul summons North Korea’s troop dispatch to Russia
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador to Seoul in protest over what it has called the for deployment in Ukraine.
Seoul Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun called in Russia’s top envoy Georgy Zinoviev to urge the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia.
Kim said the presence of North Korean troops in the Ukraine war was a violation of UN resolutions and the UN charter. He said it posed serious threats to the security of South Korea and beyond.
“We condemn North Korea’s illegal military cooperation, including its dispatch of troops to Russia, in the strongest terms,” the ministry quoted Kim as saying.
“We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilizing all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests.” The ministry said Zinoviev told Kim that he would relay the message to Moscow.
South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatizing at local military bases. It said they would likely be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to Russia.
He called on Sunday for a strong reaction from countries that have acknowledged North Korea’s increasing involvement in the Ukraine war.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m1Cn
Skip next section NATO warns of ‘significant escalation’ amid N. Korea troop reports
10/21/2024October 21, 2024
NATO warns of ‘significant escalation’ amid N. Korea troop reports
Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned both Pyongyang and Moscow about sending North Korean soldiers to fight in the Ukraine war.
The to fight with Russia in North Korea “would mark a significant escalation,” Rutte said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The pair also talked about the close relationship between South Korea and the Western military alliance, said Rutte.
He noted their cooperation in the defense industry and their “interconnected security.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4m1E9
Skip next section US defense chief Lloyd in surprise visit to Kyiv
10/21/2024October 21, 2024
US defense chief Lloyd in surprise visit to Kyiv
has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine — his fourth since assuming the position in 2021.
The trip comes at a precarious time for the country ahead of the US elections, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump expressing antipathy towards further support for Kyiv.
Austin wrote on X that his trip was meant to demonstrate “that the United States, alongside the international community, continues to stand by Ukraine.”
He was expected to meet and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed to continue military aid to Ukraine should she win on November 5.
The US has been Ukraine’s largest military and financial backer since the start of the all-out Russian invasion in February 2022.
Russian forces have advanced slowly and steadily in eastern Ukraine this year. While Zelenskyy has pressed his allies in the West to allow Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia, so far this has been to no avail.
rc/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4m1Co
The post Ukraine updates: NATO says N. Korea troops escalate conflict appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
