South Korea and EU worry about Russia’s technology transfer in return for North Korea troops
LA TimesSouth Korea and the European Union on Monday strongly condemned North Korea’s reported dispatch of troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine and expressed concern that Russia could reward North Korea with transfers of sensitive technology to enhance its nuclear and missile programs. After a meeting in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued a joint statement condemning in the “strongest possible terms” North Korea’s deployment and voicing worries about Russia’s possible provision of materials and technology to North Korea in support of its military objectives. Cho and Borrell called North Korea’s deployment a “flagrant” violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and called on North Korea and Russia to immediately withdraw the troops from Russia. Besides Russia’s possible weapons technology transfer, South Korean officials also worry that Moscow might offer a defense commitment to North Korea in the event of war on the Korean Peninsula.