'This is Nothing, Zero' - Zelensky Slams Western Response to N.Korean Troop Deployment

SEO - North Korean Troops in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Western countries on Thursday, Oct. 31, for "zero response" to North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Zelensky Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be testing the West’s, NATO's, and South Korea's response.

"And if there is nothing -- and I think that the reaction to this is nothing, it has been zero -- then the number of North Korean troops on our border will be increased," he warned.

South Korea has long claimed that North Korea, a nuclear-armed state, has been providing weapons to Russia, and it alleges that North Korean soldiers began mobilizing after Kim Jong Un signed a defense agreement with Putin in June.

Zelensky also remarked on China's silence in this situation. "I’m not suggesting China supports us," he said, "but as a regional security guarantor, we expected it would speak up."

He urged Japan and South Korea to engage China as an ally in addressing North Korea’s actions.

"I think, Japan, South Korea -- you are both strong countries -- should reach out to China and have China as an ally in terms of what North Korea is doing now," he said

"North Korea is now dragging your whole region into a war," the Ukrainian leader added.

The statement from Zelensky’s office came as the United States and South Korea held discussions after North Korea recently launched a powerful missile, demonstrating its capabilities and heightening regional tensions just days before key elections.

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North Korea conducted a test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday morning local time, with a breakthrough flight duration of 87 minutes.

The Japenese government said the missile – flew in an almost vertical “lofted trajectory” – reached an altitude of 7,000km (4,349 miles) and traveled 1,000km (621 miles), as per Al Jazeera. It is unclear if the latest missile was nuclear-capable.

“The flight time was the longest ever. Possibly the newest missile ever,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said, adding that the missile landed in the waters about 300km (190 miles) west of Japan’s Okushiri Island.

South Korean Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said it could be a “new-type solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile” launched from a mobile launcher Pyongyang unveiled for the first time in September.