South Korea’s presidential office on Thursday condemned an agreement reached by Russia and North Korea that vowed mutual defense assistance in the event of war and said it will reconsider its policy of limiting its support to Ukraine to non-lethal supplies.
The comments by a senior presidential official came hours after North Korea’s state media released the details of the agreement reached between its leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit on Wednesday in Pyongyang.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the deal requires both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war.
The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement condemning the agreement, calling it a threat to the South’s security and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and warned that it would have negative consequences on Seoul’s relations with Moscow.
Apart from who is north of their border, they’re a small sea journey away from China, which is a major naval power. I think they were trying to avoid pissing off both.
It is illegal for S Korea to sell arms to anyone fighting in a war, a measure against war profiteering. That law will need to be changed in some way. That will not be easy, Korean culture is pretty conservative, very fond of the status quo. This is a strong incentive, however.