S. Korea to hold talks with NATO allies amid NK troops in Russia

1st 2+2 ministerial talks with US in over 3 years; inaugural meeting with Canada

A journalist casts a shadow next to logos on the day of the NATO 75th Anniversary celebratory event in Washington, US, July 9, 2024. (File Photo - Reuters)

South Korea is set to convene its first 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial meeting with the United States in more than three years, paired with inaugural 2+2 talks with Canada, at a critical juncture marked by concerns of possible North Korean troop deployment to the Ukraine-Russia combat zone.

The high-stakes meetings will take place in a pivotal week of diplomacy and include top diplomats and defense leaders from founding NATO members -- staunch allies of Ukraine since Russia's invasion.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold the sixth South Korea-US Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting, scheduled for Thursday in Washington.

The upcoming meeting marks the first 2+2 talks between the treaty allies since March 2021 -- held two months after the Biden administration took office -- and notably the first 2+2 talks under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

"During the meeting, ministers from both countries will engage in in-depth, comprehensive discussions on Korean Peninsula affairs, Korea-US alliance cooperation and regional issues within the framework of a global comprehensive strategic alliance, and will adopt a joint statement reflecting the outcomes of the talks," the Foreign Ministry in Seoul announced Monday.

"Minister Cho's trip to the US serves as an opportunity to reaffirm the unwavering and steadfast Korea-US alliance amid the grave security situation on the Korean Peninsula and to engage in close consultations on key alliance pending issues, including the recent deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea," the ministry added.

Cho will hold a separate meeting with Blinken on Thursday to discuss “how South Korea and the US can cooperate on North Korean issues,” as well as the South Korea-US alliance and trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan, the Foreign Ministry stated.

The annual Security Consultative Meeting, a defense ministerial dialogue between South Korea and the US, is scheduled for Wednesday. It is set to address comprehensive aspects of the South Korea-US defense alliance, including the reported deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, the Defense Ministry in Seoul announced on Oct. 25.

The first-ever 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial talks between South Korea and Canada will be held Friday in Ottawa, with Cho, Kim and their Canadian counterparts, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Defense Minister Bill Blair, in attendance, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Canada will become the third country with which South Korea has launched 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial talks, following the US and Australia.

"The ministers of both countries are expected to discuss issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, key regional and global issues, and ways to cooperate in the fields of defense, security and the defense industry, concluding with a joint statement reflecting the outcomes of the meeting," the Foreign Ministry said.

"This meeting is anticipated to serve as a valuable opportunity to lay the ground for institutionalized security and defense industry partnership with Canada, a core partner country."

Cho will also hold a standalone meeting with Joly on Friday, their first in three months since July, to discuss practical cooperation under the Korea-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Action Plan adopted this July.

On Monday, a high-level South Korean government delegation, led by Hong Jang-won, First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, briefed NATO’s North Atlantic Council on North Korean troop deployments to Russia. The session, held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, was to include ambassadors from 32 NATO member countries, according to the NIS. A separate briefing at the EU’s Political and Security Committee will be held on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the briefing on Sunday, noting that ambassadors from NATO's Indo-Pacific partners -- including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea -- were also invited and held a press conference afterward.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Directorate of Intelligence reported Monday that North Korean soldiers are being transported to the front lines by Russian forces using civilian-plated trucks.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency, via its official Telegram channel, claimed it had obtained evidence of Russian trucks carrying North Korean troops on the Kursk-Voronezh highway on Sunday, citing intercepted Russian radio communications.

The agency also reported on Oct. 24 that the first units of North Korean military personnel, trained at Russian training grounds in the east, have already reached the combat zone in the Russia-Ukraine war. The presence of North Korean troops was observed in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have maintained a foothold since August, as of Oct. 23.

The UN Security Council will also hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, Japan's top government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, confirmed during a press briefing on Monday.

By Ji Da-gyum(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)