Russia's potential training and deployment of North Korean troops in Ukraine marks another critical stage in the conflict, but it will not bring about a wider global war,
We have adhered to a principle of not directly supplying lethal weapons, but we can review this more flexibly depending on North Korean military activities,
While it could well escalate the conflict still further, it is not serious to suggest that the mere presence of these troops will broaden the conflict into a world war,
North Korea’s troop deployment signalled that the war in Ukraine is no longer a conflict that has little to do with South Korea,
The massive troop dispatch indicates that Russia-North Korea ties are moving beyond the provision of rifles, shells and short-range missiles to the level of a blood alliance,
North Korea’s forces only have one mission: to fight and die for Russia and make Kim Jong-un billions of dollars in the process, ensuring Pyongyang has more than enough cash to evade sanctions and never give up its nuclear weapons,
North Korea can also gain income and assistance to its missile and nuclear programmes from Russia,
The big question is whether Seoul will relax restrictions on direct military aid,
The Japanese government is ... monitoring the deployment of soldiers by North Korea to Russia with serious concern, including the possibility that they may join in Russia's aggression against Ukraine,
The recent development of military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK (North Korea), including with this development, not only invites the further deterioration of the situation in Ukraine, but it is seriously worrisome also from the perspective of its impact on the security of the region surrounding Japan,
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an outrageous act that shakes the very foundations of the international order."
Japan will continue to collect and analyse relevant information and continue to work with the international community for the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions and the realisation of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible,
It seems to me that he says this sincerely, and statements of this kind, from whomever they come, we certainly welcome,
You can threaten anyone. (But) it is pointless to threaten Russia because it simply invigorates us,
Russia may benefit from this to avoid mobilization, ... if you look at it from the Russian point of view, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is fighting a war that is generally popular in Russia, but only on the one condition that the majority of the population is kept out of the fighting and is not 'disturbed' from its day-to-day life by the war."
Right now, a private in the Russian military gets $2,000 (€1850) a month plus a signing-on bonus that can be as much as $20,000 (€18,500). If North Korea gets half of that figure for every soldier it provides, then Pyongyang will be very happy,
At the moment, there is little concrete information and a lot of vague speculation,
Under different circumstances, Russia would never be willing to share technology with such an unstable country, but now it has no other choice,
But there is no doubt that North Koreans are in Russia for training,
Many European countries have wanted this for a long time,