The first EU-South Korea strategic dialogue calls for North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia

The European Union and South Korea held their first strategic dialogue, announced a security and defense partnership, and jointly condemned North Korea's supply of weapons to Russia and demanded that North Korea withdraw its troops.

Yonhap news agency reported that the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Borrell, visited South Korea on Monday (November 4) and met with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol.

Cho Tae-yeol said that in the case of deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, which poses a serious threat to peace and stability in Europe, the Indo-Pacific region and the world, the EU and the ROK will hold a strategic dialogue for the first time to discuss the solution of military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia.

In a joint statement, Borrell and Cho condemned North Korea's "illegal transfer of weapons to Russia for use in attacks on Ukraine" and demanded an end to "illegal military cooperation" and the withdrawal of North Korean troops.

Borrell also tweeted: "Russia's aggression against Ukraine is an existential threat, and South Korea understands that best. We are united in our support for Ukraine."

In addition, the EU and the Republic of Korea signed a security and defense partnership covering 15 areas, including maritime security, cyber security and nuclear non-proliferation, to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and work together to address security issues.

The two sides will also deepen strategic cooperation in major areas such as economic security, supply chain, innovation and technology through the dialogue mechanism.