South Korea and EU condemn North Korea's reported troop dispatch to Russia

SEOUL, South Korea -- Top South Korean and European Union officials connected Monday powerfully condemned North Korea’s reported unit dispatch to assistance Russia’s warfare against Ukraine and agreed to activity together to effort to artifact deepening subject practice betwixt Moscow and Pyongyang.

North Korea’s alleged unit deployment threatens to grow nan almost 3-year-long warfare and is causing information jitters successful South Korea, wherever galore interest Russia mightiness reward nan North by giving it blase weapons exertion aliases offering a defense committedness successful nan arena of a conflict connected nan Korean Peninsula.

In a gathering successful Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun and nan EU’s visiting overseas argumentation chief, Josep Borrell, expressed “serious concerns” astir North Korea’s reported unit dispatch and “strongly condemned” it, according to a connection from nan South Korean Defense Ministry.

The 2 agreed to activity together pinch nan world organization to effort to obstruct Russian-North Korean information cooperation, nan connection said.

The U.S. authorities said Thursday that astir 8,000 North Korean soldiers were successful Russia adjacent Ukraine’s separator and preparing to subordinate Russia’s conflict against Ukraine successful nan coming days. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected Friday urged friends to extremity conscionable “watching” and return steps earlier North Korean troops deployed successful Russia scope nan battlefield.

According to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, North Korea was estimated to person moved astir 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia. If they commencement fighting against Ukraine forces, it would people North Korea’s first information successful a large-scale conflict since nan extremity of nan 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has utilized nan Russia-Ukraine warfare arsenic a measurement to grow defense and economical practice pinch Russia successful nan look of an intensifying U.S.-led unit run against his advancing atomic program. The U.S., South Korea and others impeach North Korea of having already exported artillery shells, missiles and different accepted arms to Russia.

In nan past 2 years, Kim has besides ramped up tests of nuclear-capable rocket systems, arsenic Russia and China person many times blocked U.S.-led attempts to toughen world sanctions connected North Korea complete its testing activities successful defiance of U.N. bans. North Korea has besides pushed to sever relations and wantonness its long-standing extremity of reconciliation pinch South Korea.

In a inheritance briefing pinch section media Monday, South Korea’s subject said North Korea has built anti-tank, trench-like structures astatine 2 sites adjacent nan Koreas' heavy equipped border, wherever it blew up bluish parts of unused cross-border roadworthy and obstruction routes past period successful a show of anger toward South Korea. One of nan sites is connected nan occidental information of nan separator and nan different connected nan eastbound section.

Details of nan briefing were shared pinch The Associated Press.

The building astatine nan eastbound portion of nan separator was assessed to beryllium 160 meters (524 feet) agelong while nan 1 astatine nan occidental portion of nan separator was astir 120 meters (393 feet) long, according to nan South Korean subject briefing.

In a warfare situation, nan North could easy capable up nan trenches pinch piles of ungraded adjacent to create routes to invade nan South, according to nan Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Recent commercial outer images propose that nan activity connected nan trenches began soon aft North Korea staged choreographed demolitions of a roadworthy adjacent nan occidental North Korean separator metropolis of Kaesong and a mixed roadworthy and obstruction conception adjacent nan Koreas’ eastbound separator connected Oct. 15.

Last week, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic rocket designed to onslaught nan U.S. mainland for nan first clip successful almost a year.