South Korea is demanding the withdrawal of North Korean troops that are supposedly helping Russia in the fight against Ukraine

South Korea on Monday called on the Russian ambassador to protest against military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow and called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops that were allegedly deployed to support Russia.

The Associated Press reported Friday that South Korea's spy service confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 special forces to support Russia in its war against Ukraine in October.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian intelligence was preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to support Russian forces.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev met with South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun as he “strongly condemned” the North's troop deployment to support Russia, which Kim said posed “a serious security threat.” South Korea and the international community.

South Korean intelligence says North Korea has sent troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun (right) meets with Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, South Korea on October 21, 2024. (South Korean Foreign Ministry via AP)

Kim also said South Korea and the international community would mobilize all available resources to deal with the act, which threatened its vital national security interests, the Foreign Ministry added.

Zinoviev was quoted by the Russian embassy as saying that cooperation between Russia and North Korea was not aimed at South Korea's security interests.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte spoke by phone on Monday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who said Seoul would not stand idly by as “reckless” military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang continued.

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According to his office, Yoon also said South Korea plans to send a delegation to NATO to discuss Russian-North Korean cooperation.

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Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters last week that the U.S. could neither confirm nor substantiate media reports about North Korean troop deployments to Russia.

Russia has previously denied using North Korean troops in the war. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the claims “another hoax” at a news conference last week. North Korea's state media did not comment on the issue.

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A television screen shows an image of soldiers believed to be from North Korea waiting in line to receive supplies from Russia during a news broadcast at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea and Russia, embroiled in separate confrontations with the West, have significantly increased their cooperation in the past two years. The United States, South Korea and their partners have accused North Korea of ​​supplying artillery shells, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia in return for economic and military aid to fuel its war against Ukraine. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement providing for mutual military assistance in the event of an attack on either country.

Many experts question how much sending North Korean troops would help Russia, citing North Korea's outdated equipment and lack of combat experience. They say North Korea likely received commitments from Russia to equip it with high-tech weapons technology related to its nuclear and missile programs, a move that will complicate U.S. and South Korean efforts to neutralize North Korea's nuclear threats.

Ukrainian media reported this month that six North Koreans were among the victims of a Ukrainian missile attack in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region on October 3.

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Many experts have previously been skeptical about a possible deployment of North Korean troops on Russian-Ukrainian battlefields because North Korea is preoccupied with the nuclear standoff with the United States and South Korea.

North Korea sent pilots to fight for North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and for Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, but there is no known large-scale deployment of its ground forces abroad.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.