THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

Korean Support for Kyiv Would Transform Ukraine and Korea's ... Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images Newsletter byHenry Haggard Published October 28, 2024 North Korea sends ammunition to Russia for use in Ukraine, Putin travels to Pyongyang and concludes acomprehensive strategic partnership, and North Korean special forces deploy to support Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Is there any doubt what Pyongyang and Moscow are up to? It is now abundantly clear that Russia has chosen its partner on the peninsula, and it is not South Korea. Now is the time for South Korea to acknowledge this fact and stand with the Ukrainian people, the United States, and Europe. If Seoul chooses to throw its full-throated support behind Ukraine, South Korean support could turn the tide on the entire conflict and even lead directly to a peace deal. While European and U.S. allies havelimited capacity for armament productioncritically needed in a protracted ground battle such as in Ukraine, South Korea’s world-class companies have continued to develop, perfect, and produce exactly the weaponry needed in an ongoing industrial war. Now, South Korean companies are world leaders…

Rights groups urge Ukraine: Let N. Korean POWs seek S. Korean refuge Home News North Korea-Russia Relations Rights groups urge Ukraine: Let N. Korean POWs seek S. Korean refuge Copy URL Facebook Linkedin Twitter ReddIt Print An image showing suspected North Korean troops deployed to Russia receiving supplies. /Photo=Screenshot from a video released on X (formerly Twitter) by Ukraine's Strategic Communications and Information Security Center (SPRAVDI) Human rights groups are urging Ukraine to allow captured North Korean soldiers to seek refuge in South Korea rather than face potential execution in their homeland. In an open letter to Ukraine’s embassy in Seoul, the Transitional Justice Working Group and eight other organizations warned that repatriation to North Korea would likely result in severe punishment or death for the prisoners. The appeal follows Ukraine’s capture of two North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region in January. While President Zelenskyy suggested exchanging them for Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia, activists argue this would violate Article 45 of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits forced repatriation of individuals facing persecution. Intelligence r…

South Korean president makes surprise visit to Ukraine - NBC News South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee visit the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on Saturday. South Korean Presidential Office / AFP via Getty Images Share Add NBC News to Google July 15, 2023, 10:24 AM EDT / Source : The Associated Press By Associated Press South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, offering support for the invaded country in its war with Russia while demonstrating his own nation’s cooperation with NATO. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Yoon’s office said he traveled to Ukraine with his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following trips to Lithuania for a NATO summit and to Poland . It’s his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine almost 17 months ago. Yoon toured Bucha and Irpin , a pair of small cities near Kyiv where bodies of civilians were found in the streets and mass graves after Russian troops retreated from the capital region last year. He laid flowers at a monument to the country’s war dead. The South Korean leader was scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr …

Ukraine receives $100 million loan for budget expenses from South Korea News Feed Ukraine receives $100 million loan for budget expenses from South Korea November 29, 2024 6:58 pm • 2 min read Prefer on Google by Kateryna Denisova The South Korean flag also known as the Taegukgi, is seen flying in Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on March 5, 2023. (Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Ukraine has received $100 million as part of a loan from South Korea for budget assistance, the first time the country is providing aid to Ukraine's state budget, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Nov. 29. According to Shmyhal , the funds will be devoted to Ukraine's social sector by supporting budget expenses. In April of this year, Kyiv and Seoul signed an agreement enabling Ukraine to attract up to $2.1 billion in concessional loans over 2024-2029. The loan has a term of 20 years with an annual interest rate 1.0% and a five-year grace period. Later in October, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko signed a loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of Korea to attract the $100 million loan. Ukraine faces a $35 billion budget deficit in 2025, and with Russia’s war continu…

Ukraine's Defense Minister Heads to South Korea With ... - KyivPost In brief:The delegation plans to meet South Korean officials “as early as Wednesday” with a request for anti-air missiles and artillery systems. A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is expected to visit South Korea to request weapons aid, according to a source cited by theSouth China Morning Post. The delegation plans to meet South Korean officials “as early as Wednesday” with a request for anti-air missiles and artillery systems, the source said, speaking anonymously. South Korea’s defense ministry declined to comment on the visit. Follow our coverage of the war on the@Kyivpost_official. Currently, South Korea limits its support for Ukraine to non-lethal aid, such as gas masks and field rations, adhering to its longstanding policy of not supplying lethal weapons to active conflict zones. Opposition lawmakers have warned of the potential impeachment of South Korea’s defense minister if the government approves military aid for Ukraine without parliamentary consent. Doo Jin-ho, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, suggested that while South Korea is a global le…

How North Korean POWs caught Seoul in a Ukraine arms ‘conundrum’ Ukraine’s unresolved decision regarding two North Korean prisoners of war who have said they want to go to South Korea has given Kyiv leverage as it presses Seoul to sell weapons for its war against Russia, observers say. The soldiers, captured in early 2025 after being deployed to Kursk to support Russia’s war effort, are considered South Korean nationals under Seoul’s constitution, which defines the entire Korean peninsula as the country’s territory. Seoul has said it would be willing to...

Ukrainian delegation led by defense minister arrives in South Korea ... The Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrived in South Korea on Wednesday, November 27. This is according to Yonhap , Ukrinform reports. Later today, Umerov is scheduled to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Following their discussions, the Ukrainian delegation will hold talks with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. During the meetings, Umerov is expected to share Ukrainian intelligence on North Korea's troop deployment to Russia and seek South Korea's support for Ukraine's war efforts. The Ukrainian side has not officially commented on Umerov’s visit to Seoul, its purpose, or the topics to be discussed. However, the South China Morning Post reported earlier, citing informed sources, that the Ukrainian delegation plans to request weapons aid from South Korea. The list of requested equipment reportedly includes air defense missiles and artillery systems. Read also: Umerov : We count on partners ’ initiative in equipping our brigades , battalions The visit comes about a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans during his phone call with Pr…

South Korea Offers Refuge to North Korean POWs Captured by Ukraine ... South Korea will accept all North Korean prisoners of war who fought for Russia and were captured by Ukraine, if they wish to relocate there, Seoul's foreign ministry announced on June 23. The ministry stated that Seoul opposes any repatriation of North Korean captives to Russia or to North Korea against their will. We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field. DONATE NOW The position emerged ahead of talks between South Korean and Ukrainian ministers, scheduled for June 30 in Seoul. The offer addresses a contingent whose presence on the battlefield has been documented for more than a year. North Korea began deploying troops to support Russia in the fall of 2024, concentrating them in the Kursk region after Ukrainian forces pushed across the border. A June assessment by the Council on Foreign Relations estimated that Pyongyang has sent between 14,000 and 15,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces. The figure combines an initial deployment of roughly 11,000 to 12,000 troops with several thousand reservists dispatched to replace battlefield losses. Read more Category War i…

Everything we know about the North Korean POWs captured by Ukraine Everything we know about the North Korean POWs captured by Ukraine by Chris York, Martin Fornusek January 13, 2025 9:24 PM 6 min read A North Korean POW with a visible facial injury, captured by Ukrainian forces during hostilities in Russia's Kursk Oblast, as seen in a photo published on Jan. 11, 2025. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram) Prisoners of war Prefer on Google by Chris York, Martin Fornusek Ukrainian forces fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast captured two North Korean soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Jan. 11, "irrefutable evidence" of Pyongyang's involvement in Moscow's full-scale invasion. "This task was not easy," Zelensky said, claiming that North Korean military personnel usually "finish off their wounded" in order to hide the evidence of their participation in the war. North Korea deployed around 12,000 soldiers in Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion in August 2024 to bring the war to Russia, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the intelligence told the Kyiv Independent in December 2024. Ukrainian forces captured a wounded North Korean so…

What Will Happen to North Korean POWs in Ukraine? - The Diplomat This still image from a video posted on X by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows what Ukraine says is an injured North Korea soldier captured on the battlefield in Kursk. U.N. Special Rapporteur for North Korean Human Rights Elizabeth Salmon garnered significant media attention in South Korea on February 6 whenshe declaredthat the fate of North Korean prisoners of war in Ukraine will be up to the government in Kyiv. The South Korean government has repeatedly conveyed its willingness to accept the soldiers as its citizens after the war, but the United Nations’ position on the matter introduces a potential obstacle to that outcome. Salmon’s comments came right afterthe prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraineon February 5 – the first in five months. The fate of North Korean POWs in Ukraine has become a consequential legal and geopolitical question given the implications of the Kim Jong Un regime’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the unique legal status of Korean nationals under South Korean law, and international rules governing POW repatriation and disposition. Ultimately, the …