No one is more alarmed than South Korea. The two countries never signed a peace treaty to end their conflict in the 1950s and now only maintain a tense ceasefire.

Seoul fears that the price of Pyongyang’s aid to Moscow could be money, military equipment or know-how that it would then use against South Korea.

Seoul expressed “serious concern” over their agreement and called on Moscow to end its “illegal cooperation” with Pyongyang.

There have been reports that South Korea to deploy military intelligence troops in Ukraine to analyze North Korean tactics and interrogate prisoners.

South Korea is a major arms exporter, although it has a policy of not supplying weapons to countries already at war. North Korea’s deployment could put pressure on the South Korean government to try to overcome this problem.

A proxy war on Ukrainian territory

If South Korea becomes more involved, the two countries could actually end up in a proxy war over Ukrainian territory.

Darcie Draudt-Véjares, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, said: “This potential deployment of third-party ground forces risks transforming the conflict between Russia and Ukraine into an even more serious global security crisis, with particularly serious implications for the Korean peninsula. »

North Korea’s support for Russia has evolved over time.

Kim first supplied munitions, including millions of artillery shells and missiles, which were used against Ukrainian cities. Technical advisors were also reported on the ground.

Sending thousands of soldiers marks a radical change However, analysts say this will likely result in a much higher price tag for Russia.

The impact of the new alliance between Russia and North Korea on global security depends on the price to be paid and the concessions that Kim could have obtained from the Kremlin.

There are several things Kim could want from Russia, analysts say, and his price tag could include the full package.

First, there is a simple financial motivation. Kim is desperate for foreign currency to keep his regime afloat, and North Korea has long sent workers to Russia to make money.