Seoul aims to strengthen NATO ties amid Russia-North Korea pact
The authorities in South Korea announced on Monday that they plan to send a delegation to NATO to exchange information about military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Seoul intends to take active countermeasures depending on developments, as reported.
"I hope that the process of South Korea joining the NATO system for gathering and using battlefield intelligence data (BICES) will be accelerated so that South Korea and NATO can communicate in real-time and share information safely and effectively," said South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a conversation with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The conversation took place at Rutte's request, who asked for the South Korean delegation to be directed to the Alliance.
The phone conversation, initiated by the NATO chief, took place two days after Seoul's intelligence reported that North Korea sent about 1,500 special forces soldiers to the Russian Far East for training.
NATO concerned
Rutte expressed serious concern, describing the tightening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as a blatant violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
Yoon assured that South Korea "will continue to take proactive steps to address these events" and expects "cooperation with NATO and its members to determine practical responses" to them, as stated in a release from the president's office.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the reckless military closeness between Russia and North Korea once again confirm that the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic region are inextricably linked," emphasized Yoon.
