South Korea has called in the Russian ambassador to demand that North Korean troops sent to fight with pro-Moscow insurgents on Ukraine's eastern flank be pulled out "immediately".
Seoul's spy agency said 1,500 North Korean troops, including its special forces, have already entered Russia doodling artillery training in September.
South Korea's vice-foreign minister Kim Hong-Kyun said in a meeting with ambassador Georgiy Zinoviev that the test has "made their relations worse and will start disrupting cooperation projects," threatening to respond with all available measures.
Zinoviev promised to "report" the concerns and emphasized that all cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is "within the framework of international law".
Which cooperation he is referring to needs to be clarified. The ambassador would not confirm reports that North Korean troops had gone to fight alongside Russia's military.
North Korea has yet to comment on the accusations.
South Korea has persistently charged North with providing arms to Russia for intervention in the war against Ukraine, but this changed beyond the delivery of military materiel.
South Korean media have carried reports suggesting up to 12,000 North Korean troops could be dispatched.
Kim said that the act "seriously undermines South Korea and the international community.
The agreement comes after the leaders of Pyongyang and Moscow reached a security pact in June that promises collaboration between their territories if an external force commits "aggression" against one another.
Last week, Putin submitted a bill to ratify the treaty.
Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Monday that the move by Pyongyang to send troops was a "serious escalation" in fighting with Russia.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol said the alliance could consider "concrete countermeasures" after speaking with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday and promised to bolster Seoul's security cooperation with Ukraine and NATO.
In Seoul, British Foreign Minister David Lammy called Russia's actions "reckless and illegal" during a visit to the South Korean capital Monday and said London would cooperate with Seoul in responding, Yoon's office said.
The U.S. and Japan, for their part, have also denounced growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
Earlier, in response to a FoxNews question about an alleged North Korea-Russia link-up, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign office, said that China hopes all parties will seek de-escalation while achieving the ultimate objective of finding a political solution to Ukraine's crisis.
Defence experts were challenged by the Fox News Korean North Korea in war involvement due to complexity.
"North Korea's rival could gear up the international part of its involvement in this conflict, possibly pulling other nations into it," said Moon Seong-mok from the Korea National Strategy Institute.
"The international community will of course strengthen sanctions and pressure against Russia or perhaps even North Korea more, but it is highly doubtful that the whole meeting between US-Russia which has been already under heavily criticism from Japanese side would be very helpful to both countries with great controversy if DPRK's attendance at some point do happen," Dr Moon said.
Other experts believe that Russian military units will struggle to incorporate North Korean soldiers on their frontlines.
They also noted that the North Korean army has not seen recent combat, despite language indicating they did, Walker said.
Valeriy Ryabykh, an editor at the Ukrainian publication Defence Express, claimed that North Korean units might be used to monitor parts of the Russian-Ukrainian border — likely allowing "Russian formations" to fight in other places.
I think that one has to say, "These are not units that will be obviously on the frontline tomorrow," he said.
Reporting by Sangmi Han, Jack Kim and Joori Roh; Editing by Tony Munroe and Nick Macfie
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