ANKARA

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday said his country could consider providing arms to Ukraine, “depending on the extent of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

Vowing that Seoul will not "sit idle" in response to Pyongyang's alleged troop deployment to Russia, Yoon said: “If North Korea dispatches special forces to the Ukraine war, we will provide support to Ukraine step by step and consider taking necessary measures for the security of the Korean Peninsula."

Yoon made the remarks at a joint press conference after a summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Seoul.

The two leaders “strongly” condemned North Korea's alleged troop deployment to Russia and agreed to strengthen joint responses to growing security threats.

On Wednesday, South Korea's spy agency and the White House claimed that around 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia for training, with the potential for additional deployments in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Russia has termed Seoul's claims “fake” and "exaggerated."

"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," he added.