With North Korean troops in Russia, South Koreans are involved in Ukraine | Russia-Ukraine war News

Seoul, South Korea – When Yang Seung-ji learned that thousands of North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia to be sent to Ukraine, he began searching the Internet for the nearest emergency shelter.

Yang is concerned that tensions between North and South Korea, which have been exacerbated by Pyongyang's alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, could escalate into armed conflict.

“I was worried that public transportation would be down and I wouldn't be able to go back home,” said the 25-year-old striker, who recently moved from the regional city of Chungju to Seoul, which is about 50 kilometers away from the inter. – The Korean border, he told Al Jazeera.

“We thought about packing our things and putting food in our house.”

“Ever since I heard about North Korean balloons carrying garbage to parts of Seoul, there is a feeling that things are getting worse,” Yang added.

The United States Department of Defense said last week that up to 10,000 North Korean troops are being trained in Russia as Moscow looks to bolster its forces in the three-year war, confirming earlier statements by Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence.

In South Korea, the cooperation has raised fears that North Korea may receive nuclear technology from Russia as compensation.

On Thursday, North Korea test-fired a new solid-fuel ballistic missile called the Hwasong-19, which recorded a flight time of 86 minutes.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to respond to North Korea's involvement in Ukraine, including supplying arms to Kyiv.

“If North Korea sends special forces to the war in Ukraine as part of Russia-North Korea cooperation, we will support Ukraine in stages and review and implement the necessary security measures on the Korean Peninsula,” Yoon said last week during a press conference. and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Providing arms directly to Ukraine would mark a major shift in South Korea's involvement in the war, which has so far been tied to humanitarian aid and helping to reverse arms by supplying weapons to NATO members.

Such a move would also require a review of South Korea's Foreign Trade Act, which prohibits the country from exporting lethal weapons to conflict zones except for peaceful use.

Since the separation of the Korean Peninsula after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea has focused on diplomacy to build trade relations that drive its export-driven economy.

During its rapid transformation into one of the world's most advanced economies in the 1960s and 1970s, the country honed its soft power, including cultural exports such as K-pop and Korean film, to make an impact.

Its military involvement overseas, such as in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been largely confined to small deployments of troops in non-combat roles.

“As a country that has been able to manage decades of stability without engaging in any direct war, it is contrary to our society's tendency and government's policies to go to war,” said Son Key-young, a professor of international relations. at Korea University, he told Al Jazeera.

“Even looking at what happened outside, which was the Vietnam War, South Korea sent a large number of troops because we didn't want US troops in South Korea to leave their bases.”

Between 1964 and 1973, South Korea sent about 320,000 soldiers to Vietnam to fight the US army in order to get US help to revive the then ailing economy.

“When I hear from my students, it is clear how young people are against the Russia-Ukraine War. And the sluggish economic situation may make some South Korean citizens also ignore this idea,” said Son.

“South Korea's role in this conflict seems to be very small, but President Yoon seems to be looking for a way to participate as his administration has shown to be busy in matters of national security.”

Han Jun-seo, a 27-year-old marketing expert, said he would support South Korea sending weapons to Ukraine, but only if the government could do so without “too much attention”.

“One thing that worries me is that North Korean soldiers will get real field experience when the last time our soldiers got live experience was in Vietnam,” Han told Al Jazeera.

Park JR, who works in the office in Seoul, said that South Korea should take measures in Ukraine only in cooperation with the international community and the United Nations.

“Russia will not be our enemy forever, so we don't want to damage the relationship for good. Automating and making quick decisions is the fastest way to be used,” Park, 54, told Al Jazeera.

Park also said that he is not sure of North Korea's true motives.

“I don't know if North Korea is doing this as a way to attack our country or if it wants to strengthen its relations with Russia. Either way, both of these situations don't look good for us,” he said.

For some older South Koreans, who grew up when inter-Korean military conflicts were the norm, it is important not to show weakness to the North.

“I don't think it's right for South Korea to be overly wary of North Korea when we make these decisions,” Kim Shin-gyu, a 65-year-old apartment manager, told Al Jazeera.

“If the situation demands that, we should be able to make our own decisions with confidence.”

Taking a break from a game of janggi, a board game sometimes compared to chess, at Seoul's Tapgol Park, Oh RM said South Korea must learn to fight fire with fire.

“If our country also had nuclear weapons, the north would not be able to terrorize us all the time,” Oh, 68, told Al Jazeera.

“If we are going to be able to protect our country from external threats first, why not send weapons or provide reinforcements?”