Defense minister calls S. Korean observer team dispatch to Ukraine military's 'obvious' task

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said Wednesday that the dispatch of a South Korean team of observers or analysts to Ukraine would be the South Korean military's "obvious" task, as he stressed there would be lessons to be learned.

Kim made the remarks, saying that if such a team is not sent to Ukraine, it would constitute a "dereliction of duty."

"Throughout the history in many different wars, including the Iraq war, there have been many cases where we have sent monitoring teams or lesson-learned analysis teams to the countries that were in war," Kim said during a press briefing following his talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon.

"The role that such observers or analysis teams play in war is mainly analysis of the trends of modern warfare or different aspects of modern warfare, and especially as we have confirmed North Korean troops being deployed to Russia, I believe it could serve as a great opportunity for our analysis team or observers to learn about the movements or trends of North Korean troops," he added.

Later in a separate meeting with Korean reporters, Kim said that Seoul is "not at all" considering the possibility of sending troops to support Ukraine.

"Aside from the deployment option, the dispatch of a monitoring team or analysis team is something that is definitely necessary for our military or the government (to consider) in preparation of a certain emergency that could crop up in the future," he said.

Answering a question about North Korea's launches of trash balloons to the South, he stressed that Pyongyang has been "almost crossing the line" with those launches, while calling it a clear violation of the armistice agreement that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.

"At this point, North Korea is almost crossing the line," he said at the Pentagon press conference. "So, we are preparing responses through various methods."

He also commented on what the North could possibly get from Russia in exchange for its troop deployment as he repeated calls for Pyongyang to immediately retract the dispatch, which he described as an "anti-human, antipacifist" act.

"Chances are high that North Korea could demand cutting-edge military technologies in return for the deployment," he said. "For example, the likelihood is high that the North could call for advanced military technologies for the advancement of tactical nuclear arms and intercontinental ballistic missiles and those concerning reconnaissance satellites and nuclear-powered submarines."

Even if Russia offers advanced technologies to the North, South Korea is capable of addressing potential threats from it.

"If Russia provides military science and technology support to the North, that could raise threats further, but it is not appropriate to overestimate it," he said during the meeting with Korean reporters.

Kim noted that the South Korean government will proceed with its assistance for Ukraine "in phases" "within its "possible" capacity.

"What I meant by 'in phases' is that we will take into account how the war (in Ukraine) is faring and our solidarity with the international community," he said.

South Korean officials have been gathering information related to the war in Ukraine from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine, Kim said.

"When they return to Korea, we will piece together various pieces of information from NATO and Ukraine, and set our basic position," he said. (Yonhap)