South Korean leader meets Ukraine delegation and calls for response to North Korean troops in Russia

South Korean protesters stage a rally against their government's plans to supply weapons to Ukraine, in front of the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's president on Wednesday met a visiting Ukraine delegation and called for the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to the threat posed by North Korea's recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russia's war against Ukraine.

The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the almost three-year war, with Ukraine and the U.S. saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons targeting them. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine.

During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the North’s troop dispatch, Yoon’s office said in a statement.

The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Yoon’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said.

It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States.

The South Korean statement didn’t say whether the two sides discussed Seoul’s possible weapons supply to Ukraine.

Many observers say Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Trump has promised to end the war swiftly.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts.

South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say it’s unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch.

North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. The U.S., South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia.