North Korean troops in Ukraine war ‘extremely significant’ for East Asia security: Japan minister

KYIV: Japan’s foreign minister warned on Saturday (Nov 16) that North Korean troops entering the Ukraine conflict would have an “extremely significant” effect on East Asian security.

Takeshi Iwaya was in Ukraine after weeks of reports that Pyongyang had sent thousands of troops to Russia, with the West and Ukraine saying they were already operating in Russia’s Kursk border region.

Japan has joined Seoul in condemning North Korea for supporting Moscow.

“This will not only deepen the severity of the Ukraine situation, but also have extremely significant implications for East Asia’s security situation,” Iwaya said. “We are seriously concerned over this development, and strongly condemn it.”

The minister visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where Russian forces are widely believed to have committed serious atrocities against civilians during a brief occupation early in the war.

He said that “our stance remains unchanged that Japan will stand side by side with Ukraine”.

Iwaya said he had agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga for Tokyo and Kyiv to hold a “bilateral high-level security policy dialogue”, including the strengthening of “our cooperation on intelligence-sharing on security”.

Sybiga said North Korean troops entering the Ukraine conflict is “evidence that the future of not only the European but also the global security architecture is being decided in Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian minister called his Japanese counterpart’s visit an “important sign of solidarity, especially in such a difficult time” and also praised ties with Tokyo.

“And although there are eight thousand kilometres between us, our countries are really close in values.”