Kim Yong-hyun Holds Talks with EU Foreign Affairs Chief... "Condemning Deployment of North Korean Troops"

Kim & Borrell "Express Serious Concern and Strong Condemnation"
"Korea-EU, Let's Strengthen Security and Defense Cooperation"

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun held a bilateral meeting with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to discuss the security situation. At the meeting, Minister Kim and High Representative Borrell reportedly expressed serious concerns about North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia and strongly condemned it.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 4th, Minister Kim met with High Representative Borrell, who is visiting Seoul, at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan. According to the Ministry of National Defense, they agreed to continuously strengthen security and defense cooperation between South Korea and the EU across various fields. They noted that the strategic partnership between South Korea and the EU is developing through last year’s Korea-EU summit joint statement, and decided to create tangible cooperation outcomes in the security and defense sectors as well.

After meeting Minister Kim, High Representative Borrell stated on X (formerly Twitter), “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an existential threat, and the Republic of Korea is in the best position to understand this.” He added, “We are united in supporting Ukraine,” and “I encouraged South Korea to strengthen that support.”

Minister Kim and High Representative Borrell agreed that South Korea and the EU will closely cooperate with the international community to block military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.