North Korean troop dispatch is South's chance to end national division: Ukrainian commander

Home > National > North Korea

North Korean troop dispatch is South's chance to end national division: Ukrainian commander

Published: 21 Oct. 2024, 18:43 Updated: 21 Oct. 2024, 18:44

Bohdan Krotevch, acting commander of the Natual Guard of Ukraine's Azov Brigade [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A Ukrainian military official called for South Korea's support in light of North Korea's reported deployment of 12,000 troops to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine, saying in Korean that this represents “a chance for South Korea to end the division of the Korean Peninsula.”

“North Korea has sent its most combat-effective troops to the Ukraine war,” Bohdan Krotevch, acting commander of the National Guard of Ukraine's Azov Brigade, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in Korean on Sunday. “This is South Korea’s chance to end the division artificially created by the Soviet communist regime since 1945 once and for all.”

“It is also a chance for the whole of East Asia to safeguard itself from a neighbor with a nuclear button,” he added.

The Azov Brigade, led by Krotevch, is an elite unit battling Russia's large-scale offensives in eastern Ukraine.

While Ukrainian netizens voiced support with comments like “Stand with Ukraine!” in Korean, South Korean X users criticized Krotevch’s remarks. One comment read, “The 'chance' mentioned in the post represents more of a 'tragedy.'”

Post written by Bohdan Krotevch, acting commander of the Natual Guard of Ukraine Azov Brigade, on X on Sunday [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Other comments included, “How can you bring up a ‘chance’ when only 10,000 out of 1.1 million troops are out of the country?” and “Are you trying to make our country turn into a war zone?”

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed Friday that North Korea has decided to deploy 12,000 soldiers to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO the North was preparing to send soldiers to fight against his country.

Zelensky on Tuesday thanked leaders and representatives of the countries who “are not turning blind eyes and speaking openly about cooperation [between North Korea and Russia], aimed at increasing the scale of the war," through a video address.

He then urged a “normal, honest and strong reaction from partners,” calling North Korea’s deployment “another state joining the war against Ukraine.”

Neither North Korea nor Russia has issued statements regarding the reported troop deployment as of the Friday reports.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]