South Korea’s president issued a cautionary message to fellow global leaders on Wednesday regarding the recent communication and potential collaboration between North Korea and Russia.

He expressed his concern that any actions by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council aimed at bypassing international norms would be perilous and “paradoxical.”

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Yoon Suk Yeol referenced North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s recent visit to Russia, a nation holding one of the five permanent seats on the council, the U.N.’s most influential body, the Associated Press reported.

During Kim’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s far eastern region, they mentioned the possibility of cooperation on defense matters, though they provided no specific details.

This ambiguity left South Korea and its allies, including the United States, feeling uneasy.

“It is paradoxical that a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, entrusted as the ultimate guardian of world peace, would wage war by invading another sovereign nation and receive arms and ammunition from a regime that blatantly violates Security Council resolutions,” Yoon told fellow leaders.

Yoon emphasized that South Korea would find it unacceptable if North Korea were to obtain the information and technology required to advance its weapons of mass destruction in exchange for providing conventional weapons to Russia.

“Such a deal between Russia and the DPRK will be a direct provocation threatening the peace and security of not only Ukraine but also the Republic of Korea,” he said. “The Republic of Korea, together with its allies and partners, will not stand idly by.”

South Korea has conveyed its solidarity with Ukraine, currently engaged in a conflict against the Russian invasion of its territory in 2022.

During the G20 summit held in India earlier this month, President Yoon pledged that Seoul would provide Ukraine with $300 million in assistance for the upcoming year and, in the long run, extend a support package valued at over $2 billion.

Written by staff