South Korea condemns Russia’s move to seal defence pact with North Korea 

South Korea has expressed “grave concern” over Russia’s bid to seal a defence pact with North Korea, which has been accused of supplying troops to Moscow for possible deployment in its war in Ukraine.

Russia’s lower house of parliament on Thursday voted unanimously to endorse the treaty that commits Moscow and Pyongyang to providing “mutual assistance” if either side is attacked. The country’s upper house is expected to follow suit soon.

Seoul “strongly urges the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and the cessation of illegal cooperation”, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

“The government will work together with the international community to firmly respond to military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and take appropriate measures as their military collaboration progresses,” the ministry said.

Seoul’s denunciation comes a day after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia as a “provocation that threatens global security” and raised the possibility of supplying Ukraine with weapons.

“If North Korea dispatches special forces to Ukraine war as part of Russia-North Korea cooperation, we will support Ukraine in stages and also review and implement measures necessary for security on the Korean Peninsula,” Yoon told a joint news conference after talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“While we have maintained our principle of not directly supplying lethal weapons, we can also review our stance more flexibly, depending on the level of North Korean military activities,” Yoon said.

United States and South Korean officials said on Wednesday that they were aware of the presence of 3,000 North Korean troops at several locations in Russia.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Thursday that North Koreans trained in Russia had already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine and has been the site of major fighting.

Speaking as the BRICS summit in Kazan wrapped up on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sidestepped questions about satellite images appearing to show North Korean troop movements.

Putin, who signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to Pyongyang in June, told reporters it was “our business” how Moscow implemented the mutual defence clause.

North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York on Monday dismissed claims it had sent troops to Russia as “groundless, stereotyped rumours”.