NATO chief Mark Rutte and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have discussed sending North Korean troops to Russia, Seoul said.

Rutte said this was a violation of UN sanctions and a serious problem, Yoon’s office said.
Meanwhile, Seoul said it would send a delegation to NATO to share information about the alleged deployment plan.

Russia has said it will continue to cooperate with North Korea after reports that Pyongyang’s troops were training to fight for Moscow in Ukraine.

“North Korea is our close neighbor and partner and we are developing relations in all areas and it is our sovereign right. We will continue to expand this cooperation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He declined to answer a question about whether Russia is using North Korean troops.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul in protest against the so-called sending of North Korean troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine.

Seoul Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun called on Russia’s top envoy Georgy Zinoviev to demand 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 U.N. resolutions and the U.N. Charter. He said it posed a serious threat to the security of South Korea and beyond.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s illegal military cooperation, including sending troops to Russia,” the ministry quoted Kim as saying.

“We will respond together with the international community by mobilizing all available means against actions that threaten our core security interests.” The ministry said Zinoviev told Kim that he would pass on the message to Moscow.

South Korea’s spy service said last week that North Korea had sent 1,500 special forces to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatization at local military bases. It was said they would likely be used to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to Russia.

He called on Sunday for a strong response from countries that have recognized North Korea’s increasing involvement in the Ukraine war.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned both Pyongyang and Moscow against sending North Korean soldiers to the Ukraine war.

Deploying North Korean soldiers to fight with Russia in North Korea “would mean a significant escalation,” Rutte said after talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The pair also discussed the close relationship between South Korea and the Western military alliance, Rutte said.

He referred to their cooperation in the defense industry and their “connected security.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine – his fourth since taking office in 2021.

The trip comes at a precarious time for the country in the run-up to the US election, as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed reluctance to further support Kyiv.

Austin wrote on

He was expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to continue military aid to Ukraine if she wins on November 5th.

The US has been Ukraine’s largest military and financial supporter since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Russian forces have made slow and steady advances in eastern Ukraine this year. While Zelensky has urged his allies in the West to allow Ukraine to attack targets deep inside Russia, this has so far been unsuccessful.

rc/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)