U.N. voices opposition to 'further militarization' of Ukraine conflict amid concerns over N.K. troop dispatch

▲ This file photo, released by AFP, shows a conference at the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

UN-NK troop deployment

U.N. voices opposition to 'further militarization' of Ukraine conflict amid concerns over N.K. troop dispatch

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations Secretariat expressed its opposition Thursday to the "further militarization" of the ongoing war in Ukraine amid growing concerns that North Korean troops could be deployed to support Russian forces in the armed conflict.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres, made the remarks as Seoul and Washington have confirmed that some 3,000 North Korean troops were sent to eastern Russia by ship earlier this month -- a development reaffirming deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

"We are opposed to the further militarization of the conflict in Ukraine by any side," he told a press briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York.

He was responding to a question about the secretary general's position on the potential deployment of any U.N. member state's military troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Haq also reaffirmed that any violations of the sanctions regime concerning North Korea "needs to be examined and responded to" by the Security Council sanctions committee.

Seoul believes that the North's provision of arms and even its troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine is a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

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