South Korea and EU condemn North Korea arms and troop transfers to Russia News
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South Korea and EU condemn North Korea arms and troop transfers to Russia

South Korea and the EU condemned North Korea’s contribution of military arms and personnel to Russia as illegal under international law in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The statement follows recent reports that Russia has deployed North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine. According to a White House press briefing, over 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been moved to Eastern Russia from early to mid-October by ship. South Korea and the EU cite the North Korea’s personnel support, alongside its continued arms and other materiel support for Russia’s war efforts, as violations of international law, including fundamental principles and multiple UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Since 2006, North Korea has been sanctioned by nine major UNSC resolutions in response to the state’s development of nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities following its declaration of withdrawal from the NPT in 2003. Specifically, Resolutions 1718 and 1874 banned all imports of materials and technologies that could contribute to North Korea’s “WMD programs and ballistic missile activities” and transfers of weapons to and from North Korea, except small arms with notification to the UNSC. Under this sanctions regime, the transfer of ballistic missiles, artillery shells, and other heavy weapons from North Korea to Russia in exchange for economic and military assistance by Russia would constitute a violation. In September, South Korea accused Russia of engaging in this illegal trade, citing the threat that North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons poses to peace on the peninsula.

According to the EU, North Korea’s deployment of troops to Ukraine would be illegal as it would constitute participation in Russia’s war of aggression. Experts have noted that such deployments likely violate fundamental principles of international law such as the UN Charter’s Article 2(4) prohibition on the use of force. While exceptions for UNSC authorization and self-defense exist, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not authorized by the UNSC. The invasion is also widely considered to be an act of aggression and not an act of legitimate self-defense, which can only be triggered by a country in response to an intentional armed attack directed against it. According to the International Court of Justice in Nicaragua v. United States of America, any use of force in such a case must be “proportional to the armed attack and necessary to respond to it.”

While North Korea and Russia have not explicitly confirmed whether North Korean troops were deployed in Ukraine, the North Korea’s vice foreign minister claimed that sending troops to support Russia would be in accordance with the regulations of international law. Russia and North Korea officially expanded their military cooperation by ratifying a mutual defense pact in June.