Russia seals partnership with North Korea amid troop deployment

Russia’s lower house of parliament ratified an umbrella partnership treaty with North Korea on Thursday, as South Korea considers its response to North Korean troops in Russia.

The partnership treaty takes military cooperation between the two countries to a new level and stipulates that they will provide mutual assistance if either country is attacked.

The ratification was the final stage of the agreement that Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed in Pyongyang in June.

“The treaty takes full account of the current geopolitical situation,” said the head of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky.

He said it “provided the basis for expanding cooperation in all areas of interaction and the basis for a comprehensive strategic partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.”

A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said the military cooperation did not violate any law.

The ratification came against the backdrop of reports from South Korea and Ukraine that thousands of North Korean soldiers were being sent to Russia ahead of deployment to Ukraine.

South Korean intelligence told parliamentarians on Wednesday that North Korea had already sent about 3,000 soldiers to Russia. Seoul has condemned the deployment as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Charter.

US defense chief Lloyd Austin confirmed on Wednesday that the United States has “evidence” that North Korean troops are in Russia, but it is not yet clear what they are doing.

The US views the alliance between the two countries as dangerous and has repeatedly accused Pyongyang of supplying Russia with ammunition and weapons for use in the war against Ukraine.

Speaking in the Russian city of Kazan, Putin rejected the criticism and pointed to the ratification of the strategic partnership agreement with North Korea.

The agreement included a clause on mutual military assistance. “We have never doubted that North Korean leaders take our agreements seriously. What we do and how we will do it on the basis of this article is our business,” Putin said.

Putin also said that the West has long been doing more than just supplying Kiev with weapons and satellite information and that Western states are also deploying trainers and officers in Ukraine to support the country’s armed forces.

During a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called the deployment “a provocation that extends beyond the Korean Peninsula and threatens Europe and global security.”

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, meanwhile, labeled North Korean soldiers stationed in Russia as “cannon fodder mercenaries,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

“When troops are sent abroad, they generally maintain their country’s command structure and proudly carry out activities wearing their military uniform, insignia and flag,” Yonhap quoted South Korea’s defense minister as saying at a parliamentary hearing for South Korea legislators.

But North Korean forces are using a Russian uniform as a disguise and acting under Russian military command without any operational authority, Kim said.

Seoul has not ruled out arms deliveries to Ukraine.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul said the government cannot remain passive in response to North Korea apparently sending troops to Russia to support the fight against Ukraine.

“I don’t think we are in a position where we can sit idly by when it eventually becomes a threat to our security,” Cho said during Thursday’s hearing, according to Yonhap.

In response to a question from a lawmaker about whether the South Korean government would consider direct arms shipments to Ukraine, Cho said “all options are on the table.”

Seoul has so far not supplied heavy weapons to Ukraine, arguing that this could escalate the war.

There is great concern in Seoul that North Korea could emerge militarily stronger from its cooperation with Russia.

Cho later added that North Korea’s commitment “would not have happened without something promised in return” by Moscow.

Speaking from Brussels, the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he was “deeply concerned” by the reports.

“It would be a unilateral hostile act by the DPRK (North Korea) with serious consequences for European and global peace and security,” Borell said in an official statement.

“This development also illustrates once again how Russia is spreading instability and escalation in the region and around the world,” he added.

Russia escalated the conflict in Ukraine and had no interest in a negotiated peace, Borrell said.