Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted this image of an injured North Korean soldier captured in the Kursk region to social media on Jan. 11, 2025. (ZelenskyyUa/X)
South Korea has condemned Pyongyang’s first public admission that its troops fought alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, calling the move a violation of international law.
“North Korea taking part in the war against Ukraine is certainly an illegal act that violates the United Nations charter and U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesman for the South’s Ministry of National Defense, said at a news briefing Monday.
“Admitting [that it engaged] in the war is admission of a criminal act,” he added. “Our military and the international community strongly condemn this inhumane, illegal act.”
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency acknowledged Monday that its troops fought with Russian forces to expel Ukrainian troops from Kursk, a Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea for its support following a claim Saturday that Russian forces had ejected Ukrainian troops. Kyiv disputed that claim and said its forces continue to operate in the region, according to The Associated Press.
Another South Korean official condemned the loss of North Korean lives in the conflict.
“North Korea can never cover the fact that deploying troops is an illegal act that violates international law, and is inhumane, unethical behavior that sacrificed young North Koreans for the governments’ sake,” Ministry of Unification spokesman Koo Byongsam said at a separate briefing.
Koo called on Pyongyang to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
“Our government urges the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and if North Korea and Russia continue to collude militarily, we will not stand by and with the international community we will firmly deal with it,” he said.
Koo declined to elaborate on potential consequences but said Seoul is “cooperating with our allies based on the U.S.-[South Korean] alliance and taking all possible measures for our security and national defense.”
Intelligence agencies in South Korea, Ukraine and the United States estimate that North Korea dispatched between 10,000 and 12,000 troops to Russia under a mutual defense pact reached in June by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Seoul estimated in March that about 4,000 North Korean troops had been killed or wounded fighting for Moscow, marking the country’s largest foreign military involvement since the 1950-53 Korean War.
In addition to sending manpower, North Korea has also supplied weapons and equipment, an arrangement U.S. and South Korean authorities warn may lead to technology transfers that benefit Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Meanwhile, Putin on Monday called for a May 8-11 ceasefire while declaring his readiness for peace talks, according to the BBC. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha responded by calling on Russia to immediately cease hostilities if it “truly wants peace.”
