Recently, 350 garbage balloons carrying debris from North Korea crossed the border into South Korea. These balloons were seen as a retaliation for South Korean activists sending anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets. In response to this action, Pyongyang resumed launching junk balloons over the skies of South Korea.
This move has raised concerns and tensions in the region, as the US, South Korea, and Japan have condemned the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. The signing of a mutual military assistance pact between Putin and Kim Jong-un has further fueled these tensions.
In light of this pact, Seoul is reevaluating its traditional pacifist policy of not supplying lethal weapons to conflict zones. South Korea has supported Ukraine by sending humanitarian aid and joining Western sanctions against Russia but faces the risk of Moscow providing military support to North Korea in response to arms supplies to Ukraine.
As tensions rise in the region, with Moscow and Pyongyang forming closer ties, Seoul and Moscow have exchanged warnings and diplomatic protests. The presence of a US Navy aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula for upcoming trilateral exercises with South Korea and Japan underscores the growing concerns over the security situation in the region.
In the midst of these geopolitical developments, South Korea’s traditional stance on arms exports and military support is being reassessed in response to changing dynamics in East Asia.
