South Korea summons Russian envoy to protest North Korea troop dispatch

FILE PHOTO: South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun (C) attends a trilateral meeting with United States Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell and Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea on October 16, 2024. JUNG YEON-JE/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in Seoul on Monday to protest over what it has called the sending of North Korean troops to Russia for deployment in Ukraine.

The Kremlin declined to directly answer a query on whether North Korean troops were going to fight in Ukraine but spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's cooperation with Pyongyang was not directed against third countries.