S. Korea, U.S, Japan hope for China’s ‘constructive’ role over N.K.-Russia military cooperation: Seoul official

South Korea, the United States and Japan hope that China will play a "constructive" role to help address concerns over a deepening military alignment between North Korea and Russia, a senior Seoul official said Friday. The official at Seoul's presidential office made the remarks as South Korea's National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba, respectively, held a trilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., on Friday to discuss the North's recent troop deployment to Russia and other issues. "We can assume that China might feel uneasy about (the North's) deployment, which is the most serious level of (military) cooperation (between Pyongyang and Moscow)," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "South Korea, the U.S. and Japan hope that China will play a constructive role regarding such illegal acts by North Korea and Russia," he added. Seoul's top intelligence agency has said that North Korea is expected to send around 10,000 troops t o Russia by the end of this year, including some 3,000 troops already dispatched earlier this month. Washington has also confirmed the North's troop dispatch this month. Observers said that with China under growing pressure to serve as a "responsible" stakeholder in global issues, the Asian superpower might not feel comfortable about the North's deployment that could further escalate the armed conflict in Ukraine with security implications for the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. The official said that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have discussed measures to respond to various "scenarios" that could unfold in various "phases" as military cooperation between the North and Russia progresses in the wake of Pyongyang's troop dispatch. "Now, we are at a phase where North Korean troops are engaging in familiarization training in eastern Russia. If you look at the next phase, those troops could move to western (Russia) and be sent to the front lines," the official said. "They could be sent to the front lines where bullets are raining down or be sent for a rear-area mission to support operations. They could also be assigned to rear-area vigilance missions or tasked with delivering military supplies. Having said this, there are many phases." As for what the North could get in return for its troop dispatch, the official raised the possibility of Pyongyang getting technological assistance for its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile projects, or for air defense and the production of aircraft, to name a few. Source: Yonhap News Agency