OTTAWA (Reuters) -South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, asked on Friday whether Seoul could send weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea’s aiding Russia, said all possible scenarios were under consideration.
Cho, speaking through an interpreter, told a press conference in Ottawa that Seoul would be watching the level of participation by North Korean troops in Russia and what Pyongyang received from Moscow in return.
The United States said on Thursday that it expected North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days. Washington says there are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia.
South Korea has provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including mine clearance equipment, but so far has resisted Kyiv’s requests for weapons.
“All possible scenarios are under consideration,” Cho said when asked whether Seoul might send arms to Ukraine.
“Specifically, we will be watching the level of the (North Korean) forces’ participation in the war, and what will be the quid pro quo that North Korea will be receiving from Russia. We will take all those (factors) into consideration before making specific decisions,” he said.
The North is likely to be compensated by Moscow with military and civilian technology, as it races to launch a spy satellite and upgrade its intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities, a South Korean presidential official said on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Cho and South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Thursday, said the two sides had discussed a range of options for responding to the North Korean dispatch of troops but gave no details.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler)
