A news report on North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia is aired on a television at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Oct. 20, 2024. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea is considering sending a team of personnel to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops being deployed to support Russia, a government source said Tuesday.
Last week, Seoul’s spy agency said North Korea sent some 1,500 special forces to Russia this month to take part in the war in Ukraine. The North is expected to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops from an elite special forces unit, according to an intelligence source.
“There is a possibility that personnel will be sent to Ukraine to monitor the tactics and combat capabilities of North Korean special forces dispatched in support of Russia,” the source said.
If deployed, the team is expected to be composed of military personnel from intelligence units, who could analyze North Korean battlefield tactics or take part in interrogations of captured North Koreans.
The government is also considering supplying weapons to Ukraine in a possible shift from its policy of not sending lethal aid.
Kim Tae-hyo, deputy national security adviser, said in a briefing that South Korea would take “phased measures” against North Korea and Russia over their deepening military cooperation.
Possible scenarios include sending defensive and offensive weapons to Ukraine, a senior presidential official told reporters.
South Korea has so far provided Ukraine with only non-lethal aid and supplies, such as gas masks, field rations and emergency aid kits.
“While looking at scenarios by phases, defensive weapons support could be considered,” the official said. “And if it surpasses a limit, offensive (weapons) could also be considered in the end.”
South Korea’s military operates a range of defensive weapons systems, including the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which could help Ukraine bolster its air defenses.
Possible offensive weapons that could be offered to Ukraine include 155-millimeter artillery shells.
Since the outbreak of the war, South Korea has provided the United States with such munitions on the condition that the U.S. is the “end user” — a method that observers say might have enabled Seoul to give indirect arms support to Ukraine as the U.S. sends its own stockpiled munitions to Ukraine.
The latest announcement raises the possibility that South Korea could opt to directly supply artillery shells to Ukraine depending on the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Other possible weapons systems that might be considered include South Korea’s homegrown K9 self-propelled howitzers, K2 main battle tanks and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.
(Yonhap)
