Photo : YONHAP News
Countries at the United Nations Security Council(UNSC) clashed over North Korea’s decision to deploy troops to Russia in support of its military action against Ukraine.
At a session on maintaining peace and security in Ukraine on Wednesday, South Korean Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook said the North Korean soldiers will end up as “cannon fodder” while their wages go into regime leader Kim Jong-un’s pocket.
Accusing Pyongyang and Moscow of violating multiple UNSC resolutions, Hwang said Seoul will take corresponding measures in close cooperation with the international community.
Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the UN, said sending North Korean soldiers to the battlefield would be a serious escalation of the conflict, accusing Russia of endangering the world by increasing its military dependence on Iran and the North.
Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya and North Korea’s Kim Song, on the other hand, defended what they said is their sovereign right to advance bilateral ties under a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The U.S. deputy ambassador, in response, said North Korean troops will be targeted if they enter Ukraine in support of Russia, warning that “they will surely return in body bags.”