(Seoul) – South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul on Friday after North Korea and Russia, under Western sanctions, signed a defense agreement providing for mutual assistance in the event of aggression.
This bilateral agreement, which was concluded during the Kremlin leader's visit to North Korea on Wednesday, does not exclude “military-technical cooperation” between the two countries and stipulates “mutual assistance in the event of aggression” from one of the signatories, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In response, South Korea summoned Russia's ambassador to Seoul, Georgy Zinoviev, on Friday, and “strongly demanded that Russia immediately stop all forms of military cooperation with North Korea and comply with Security Council resolutions,” according to a press release from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun insisted in the press release that “violating Security Council resolutions and supporting North Korea will undermine our security and will inevitably have a negative impact on South Korea-Russia relations.”
UN sanctions have been targeting Pyongyang since 2006, but in March Russia used its veto in the UN Security Council against a draft resolution extending for one year the mandate of the committee of experts charged with monitoring the implementation of sanctions.
Moscow and Pyongyang have been allies since the end of the Korean War (1950-1953), but they have become closer since the launch of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
After the signing of the defense agreement between North Korea and Russia, South Korea said it would “reconsider” its policy that prevents it from directly supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Seoul has a long-standing policy prohibiting it from selling weapons to active conflict zones, a policy it adheres to today despite calls from Washington and Kiev to reconsider it.
On Thursday, the Kremlin leader warned South Korea that it would make a “serious mistake.”
