The national security advisors of South Korea, the United States and Japan expressed "grave concern" Friday over North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia possibly for use in the war against Ukraine, and called for the two countries to cease such military cooperation, a White House official said. National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said that South Korea's National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba, respectively, held a trilateral meeting in Washington to discuss the issue and other matters of mutual concern. The meeting came as Seoul and Washington have confirmed that Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to eastern Russia by ship earlier this month -- a culmination of their deepening military cooperation in the midst of the protracted war in Ukraine. "In particular, the national security advisors expressed grave concern over troop deployments by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to Russia, potentially for use on the battlefield against Ukraine," he said in a virtual briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name. "This deployment is the latest in a series of concerning indicators of deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, including arms and ballistic missile transfers that are in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," he added. Shin, Sullivan and Akiba called on Russia and North Korea to cease these actions that "only serve to expand the security implications of Russia's brutal and illegal war beyond Europe and into the Indo- Pacific," according to Kirby. "The three national security advisors reaffirmed their commitment to address common regional and global challenges and to promote security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," the White House official said. On the eve of the three-way talks, Shin held bilateral talks with Sullivan and discussed how to respond to possible "scenarios" that could unfold as military cooperation between the North and Russia progresses following the North's troop dispatch, Shin told reporters. Shin stressed that there is no disagreement among Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo over the assessment of the North's troop dispatch to Russia, and that the three sides agreed to work together with the international community to "sternly" deal with a military alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow. "South Korea, the U.S. and Japan all agreed that North Korea's troop deployment is a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and is an act that seriously undermines security in the international community as well as on the Korean Peninsula," Shin said, referring to the trilateral meeting. "The three countries agreed to sternly deal with close military ties between the North and Russia in tandem with the international community, and work closely together to take necessary measures according to how the situation progresses going forward," he added. On Friday night (Korea time), North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu said via state media that if true, the North's troop deployment would be in line with international law -- a remark seen as an apparent acknowledgement of the deployment. Seoul's top intelligence agency has confirmed that Pyongyang is expected to send some 10,000 troops to Russia by the end of this year, including around 3,000 troops already dispatched. The White House has also said that at least 3,000 North Korean troops were moved to eastern Russia earlier this month. During Friday's talks, the three security advisors also reaffirmed their countries' commitment to trilateral cooperation. "(They) resolved to institutionalize efforts to build a new era of trilateral partnership that will be a force for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond for years to come," Kirby said. They committed to work toward a trilateral summit "at the earliest opportunity," he noted. Moreover, the officials "strongly" opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the waters of the Indo-Pac ific, and underscored their commitment to the global maritime order as reflected in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Friday's gathering is the second meeting between the three countries' national security advisors since President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a landmark three-way summit at Camp David in August last year. It is also the fifth such meeting of the Biden administration. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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