President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) on July 15, 2023, on a visit to Ukraine is greeted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Office of the President) 

By Gil Kyuyoung

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Nov. 27 hosted talks with a visiting presidential delegation from Ukraine at his office in Seoul on responding to military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

He told the group, "I hope for Seoul and Kyiy to jointly devise effective responses to the security threat posed by North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.

The Office of the President added, "As our two countries continue to share information on North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia and their transfer of weapons and technology, we opted to cooperate with our allies and keep close communication and collaboration with the U.S."

Led by Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov, the delegation later attended a separate meeting with National Security Adviser Shin Wonsik and Minister of National Defense Kim Yong Hyun on bilateral cooperation.

"We visited (South) Korea under (Ukrainian) President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's instructions to seek cooperation to counter Russian-North Korean military cooperation," Minister Umerov said. "I'm pleased with the recent close communication and cooperation between our two countries."

On the situation in Ukraine and trends in the North's troop dispatch, he said, "Ukraine is expanding its security cooperation with major countries worldwide including member states of NATO and the European Union," adding, "We hope to strengthen cooperation with (South) Korea in the future."

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr