Ukraine and South Korea discuss plan to counter Russia and DPRK

South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol has met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who arrived in Seoul, with whom he discussed countering cooperation between Russia and the DPRK. This was reported on November 27 by the administration of the South Korean president.

"President Yun Seok-yel met with a special envoy of the Ukrainian government on November 27 and announced that the two countries will seek ways to effectively respond to security threats caused by military cooperation between North Korea and Russia," Kyunghyang Shinmun wrote, citing the presidential administration.

According to the publication, Umerov also met with Shin Won-sik, director of the National Security Directorate, and Kim Yong-hyun, minister of national defense. Ukrainian head of the defense Ministry at the meeting expressed hope for strengthening cooperation with South Korea in all aspects.

It is noted that the two countries agreed to cooperate with the United States , as the administration of the current US President Joe Biden and the US leader-elect Donald Trump "are on the same team" and react to the situation in Ukraine in the same way.

The fact that the Ukrainian defense minister will meet with the South Korean leader became known earlier in the day. Yun said that South Korea may consider providing military support to Ukraine depending on the degree of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Georgy Zinoviev said on October 24 that the supply of lethal weapons from South Korea to Ukraine would not change the course of the special military operation, but would ruin the prospect of restoring relations between Moscow and Seoul.

Prior to that, on June 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that South Korea had not yet provided direct assistance to Ukraine, but was already involved in the conflict. The head of state added that the South Korean side had created a number of problems in the cooperation between Moscow and Seoul. Nevertheless, Putin expects that the level of relations between the two countries achieved in the past decades will be preserved to become a foundation for restoring cooperation.

The special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced on February 24, 2022, is still ongoing. The decision to conduct it was taken against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.