Seoul, Oct 31
South Korea's top envoy to the United Nations has criticised North Korea's "dispatch of its troops to Russia", saying they will be used as mere "cannon fodder", while their wages will end up in the pockets of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.
Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made the remarks at a UN Security Council (UNSC) session in New York on Wednesday (local time), after South Korea confirmed that some North Korean troops have been sent to Russia's western region near the border with Ukraine, news agency reported.
"As legitimate military targets, they will end up as mere cannon fodder, while the wages they are supposed to receive from Russia will end up squarely in Kim Jong-un's pocket," he said. "Pyongyang's treatment of its young soldiers, its own people, as expendable will be never forgiven."
Hwang said any activities entailed with the North's troop dispatch to Russia are "clear" violations of multiple UNSC resolutions, noting that Pyongyang's "unprecedented" military support to Moscow will change the dynamic of geopolitics on both sides of the Eurasian continent.
"The Republic of Korea, in close cooperation with the international community, will respond resolutely to unlawful Russia-DPRK military cooperation, and will take corresponding measures, commensurate to ensuing developments," he said, using South Korea's official name.
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name -- Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, also criticised North Korea over its troop deployment, saying it would mark a "serious" escalation of the conflict if North Korean soldiers are used in the battlefield.