Ukraine-Russia live: South Korea ‘won’t stand idle’ over North bolstering Putin’s forces as Kyiv downs drones
US defence chief says North Korea’s involvement alongside Russia would be ‘very, very serious’
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South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed he “won’t sit idle” over reports that North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to aid Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking in Seoul after talks with visiting Polish president Andrzej Duda, Mr Yoon described the North Korean deployment as “a provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe”. He added: “South Korea won’t sit idle over this.”
It has been reported that South Korea is now considering sending offensive weapons to Ukraine, breaking their rule not to send weapons to countries engaged in active combat.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has said it shot down 80 per cent of the 50 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack, while another seven disappeared from radars.
The Ukrainian Air Force said one drone was still in Ukrainian airspace while two others had turned back towards Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine uses electronic warfare systems to confuse drones’ navigation systems, which often leads them to disappear from radars or change course.
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Russia’s RIA news agency cited a diplomatic source saying that the talks held on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Russia may also include some concrete further instructions on the plans.
“It is quite possible that the leaders will give their instructions to the relevant departments to develop these projects,” RIA cited the source as saying.
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