A domestic political scandal is grabbing headlines in South Korea.
And now, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government appears to have turned its attention abroad—way abroad. By casting the spotlight on the alleged deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia, Seoul seems intent on giving the public something to chew over that doesn’t involve his administration’s troubles.
For starters, it’s important to note that the evidence of North Korean troops in Ukraine remains hazy at best. Reports coming from Ukraine have stated that Pyongyang plans to deploy up to 12,000 soldiers in two military units.
However, neither the Pentagon nor NATO has confirmed this claim, with Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledging that there’s simply no solid evidence to back up the story.
But where there’s a speculative international crisis, there’s a way to divert the public attention, and that’s exactly what the South Korean government seems to be capitalising on.
South Korea has since focused its attention on the North and Russia, with officials now saying that Seoul might send a team of experts to Ukraine to track North Korean soldiers, should they appear. Not stopping there, the South Korean government is even planning a lethal military aid package to Kyiv, considering high-profile weapons like the Cheongung-II anti-aircraft missile system and K9 self-propelled howitzers.
This sudden escalation in South Korea’s involvement has alarmed local opposition lawmakers, who argue that Seoul’s actions are reckless, especially when they hinge on unconfirmed intelligence. Lawmakers Kim Joon-hyung and Lee Jae-gang, for instance, recently issued a joint statement warning that South Korea is “playing with fire,” and dubbing the response as an unnecessary and dangerous provocation based on dubious information.
Interestingly, this Russia-North Korea hoax coincides with President Yoon’s approval ratings hitting a new low of 24.1%—his lowest since taking office. The political scandal overshadowing his administration involves his wife over a gift that she received worth 2 million won, and now the opposition suspects that the government’s bold stance on North Korean threats abroad is a well-planned ploy to divert attention. Political analyst Lee Jun-han supports this view, noting that South Korea’s conservative leaders have a history of playing up northern threats to rally public support. “The risks are too high for the country to play such a game now,” he warned, alluding to the potential fallout from elevating an unsubstantiated claim into international crisis.
You see, Seoul’s reaction is not driven by a genuine security concern but rather by a need to offset the negative domestic attention. Whether North Korean troops actually deploy to Ukraine or not, Seoul’s dramatic gestures appear more geared toward the home front than the frontline.
The Russian embassy in Seoul also weighed in, reiterating that any cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is legal and poses no threat to South Korea’s security.
Amid all this chaos, there are questions and doubts emerging from within Ukraine as well. Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, remarked, “There are no North Korean soldiers, yet.” It’s a statement that suggests even Kyiv is unsure how much weight to give to Seoul’s assertions.
The result is a perfect storm of fear and finger-pointing, with Seoul stoking worries of North Korean troops in Ukraine while dodging the uncomfortable questions piling up at home.