South Korea on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador to criticise what it claimed as Pyongyang's decision to send thousands of soldiers to support Moscow's war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry there said, calling for their immediate withdrawal.

About 1,500 North Korean special forces soldiers are already in Russia acclimatising and likely to head to the front lines soon, Seoul's spy agency said on Friday, with additional troops set to depart soon, Pyongyang's first such deployment overseas.

South Korea has long claimed the nuclear-armed North is supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, and Seoul expressed alarm over the troop deployment, which comes after Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military deal in June.

Seoul expressed its "grave concerns regarding North Korea's recent dispatch of troops to Russia and strongly urged the immediate withdrawal of North Korean forces", vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun told Russian ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev.

Seoul's spy agency released detailed satellite images showing the first batch of 1,500 North Korean special forces from the elite "Storm Corps" had arrived in Vladivostok on Russian military vessels.

The move "poses a significant security threat not only to South Korea but to the international community", Kim said.

For his part, Russian ambassador Zinovyev "stressed that cooperation between Russia and North Korea... is not directed against the interests of South Korea's security", the embassy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it hopes all parties will work to de-escalate the situation.

“China’s position is consistent and clear,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular briefing in Beijing, as he urged parties involved to “commit themselves to a political solution".

Nato, which has not yet confirmed the North Korean troop deployments, said that it "would mark a significant escalation" in the conflict, chief Mark Rutte said on X. (AFP/Reuters)
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Last updated: 2024-10-21 HKT 16:51