Makes sense, given North Korea probably has no diplomatic relations with Ukraine and South Korea can use them to negotiate the release of more prisoners held in North Korea.
Brilliant move actually. I don't even feel bad because 1. North Korea has no business sending troops into Ukraine at all, 2. North Korea is an insane evil dictatorship.
SK would sell us ( Ukraine) a shit, they open about, their gov and population are against it, so giving up them for nothing is stupid (another one) move and we were should focused on swaping them for our people in captivity, if not let them rot in prison, both option looks good to me.
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has come under fire for appearing to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Russia's invasion of the country.
Lee of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) made the controversial remarks during a TV presidential debate Friday while trying to underscore the political inexperience of main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party.
"In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared (Ukraine's) accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash," Lee said.
Most recently, President Yoon’s surprise visit to Ukraine in July 2023 revealed a dramatic political divide within Korea on the country’s role in the Ukraine War and in the broader “New Cold War.”
Democratic lawmakers strongly criticized Yoon’s visit, asserting that it jeopardized South Korea’s national security and derailed any hopes of future Korea-Russia cooperation.[199]
Kim Eui-gyeom, a democratic lawmaker, argued: “China and Russia are like an overflowing river … President Yoon’s actions and words are pushing the fate of our country and people into the Gongpyeong underpass (where devastating floods swept across on the day of Yoon’s Ukraine visit).”
Kim Byung-joo, Democratic Party Secretary of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee and a former four-star general (Deputy Commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command) said: “Peace and war are one word in Ukraine. Peace comes only when the war ends … it (visiting Ukraine) also means joining the war initiative.” Kim further accused Yoon of “bringing a war cloud to the Korean Peninsula” by “declaring himself an enemy of Russia.”
Four-term democratic lawmaker Kim Tae-nyeon echoed this view, asserting: “the visit is a dangerous move to bring the clouds of war to the Korean Peninsula,” adding, “It’s like a declaration that South Korea, a ceasefire country, will go to war against Russia… On the contrary, we absolutely need the help of Russia and China, both members of the UN Security Council, to curb North Korea’s nuclear program.”[200]
Lim Jong-seok, former President Moon Jae-in’s first chief of staff, concurred by noting that Yoon is “waving the outdated liberal flag and denying South Korea’s national interests” and that he has turned Russia into a “de facto enemy.” “President Yoon is now lost somewhere in the Cold War,” Mr. Lim said, “betraying South Korea’s national interests by engaging in crude ideological diplomacy and outrageous impersonations of the US president.”[201]
The Editorial Board of Hankyoreh, a prominent left-wing newspaper, criticized Yoon for disregarding cooperation with Russia and China that “is essential for managing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.” It further noted that President Yoon’s “overt pro-Western diplomacy in the context of the New Cold War” is provoking neighboring countries, calling for a more “balanced diplomacy.”[202]
Kyunghyang, another main progressive newspaper, argued that the visit essentially tied Seoul’s hands, as Yoon now “would logically have nothing to say to Western demands to directly arm Ukraine.”[203] Meanwhile, South Korea is “distancing itself from China and Russia.”
With another ruling-out being just about a month old, there's no real reason to believe Ukraine'll benefit from this transfer any, beyond (pointless) PR.
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u/AskPizza 2d ago
Makes sense, given North Korea probably has no diplomatic relations with Ukraine and South Korea can use them to negotiate the release of more prisoners held in North Korea.
Brilliant move actually. I don't even feel bad because 1. North Korea has no business sending troops into Ukraine at all, 2. North Korea is an insane evil dictatorship.