This footage posted on X by the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security of Ukraine shows North Korean soldiers apparently receiving Russian gear, Oct. 18. Yonhap
A South Korean government delegation to Ukraine will return home as early as Monday after visiting Kyiv to discuss possible cooperation measures in response to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia, officials have said.
The delegation, consisting of senior intelligence and military officials, was visiting Ukraine after briefing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels last week over the North's troop dispatch.
"The delegation will likely return home around Nov. 4," Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told reporters Wednesday during his visit to Washington, D.C., for an annual meeting of defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States.
"(We) will take necessary measures in cooperation with the international community, based on reports from the group," he said.
Kim appeared to be referring to Seoul's consideration of sending a team of observers to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops deployed in support of Russia.
On Friday, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik told lawmakers in a parliamentary audit that such a dispatch would be essential for South Korea to understand modern warfare.
If sent, the team of observers is expected to be composed of military and intelligence personnel, and could possibly take part in analyzing North Korean combat tactics and interrogations of captured troops.
Amid growing concerns of North Korean troops possibly joining combat against Ukraine, South Korea has vowed to take "phased measures" in response to the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. (Yonhap)
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