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Signals in the Noise:
North Korea’s Participation in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine as a Catalyst for Europe-South Korea Cooperation
Francesca Frassineti
142025.07.08
Introduction
Since its beginning in February 2022, the Ukraine conflict has undergone a range of twists and turns, including the deployment of North Korean military forces into Russian combat operations. This represents an unanticipated—though logical in hindsight—evolution in the increasingly collaborative support network for Russia's military campaign, encompassing China, Iran, North Korea, and Belarus. The presence of North Korean military personnel on Russian soil marks the first instance where East Asian forces have become direct participants in European hostilities.
In spite of the seemingly unprecedented nature of this development, North Korea’s entanglement in the war in Ukraine is in fact yet another demonstration of just how intertwined Europe and Asia are to the few that still consider them as separate and distinct security theatres. This includes the US administration and its prioritisation of China as its focus for strategic competition. Trump’s goal of peace at almost any cost and the seeming disdain of his administration for Washington’s traditional European allies has urged the latter to set out their “principles” for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia including the now well-worn lines that “there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine” and, rather forlornly, that “there can be no negotiations that affect European security without Europe’s involvement.”1 For the avoidance of any doubt regarding their position, the EU leaders have stressed that “Ukraine’s, Europe’s, transatlantic and global security are intertwined.”2 In light of Trump’s efforts at accelerating a resolution to the crisis through direct talks with Putin, questions abound regarding how developments in the Indo-Pacific could be impacted by the kind of deal to conclude the war in Ukraine could be cut.3
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Gabriel Gavin and Hans von der Burchard, ‘Don’t Cut Ukraine out of Peace Talks, Europe Tells Trump’, POLITICO, 12 February 2025, https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-peace-talks-defense-eu-allies/.
The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Francesca Frassineti
Non-Resident Fellow
Dr. Francesca Frassineti is a Non-resident fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Her research focuses thematically on security and political economy within the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific as well as in relation to Europe. Dr. Frassineti is an adjunct professor at Ca’Foscari University of Venice and at the University of Bologna where she teaches History of Contemporary East Asia and Negotiations in International Relations respectively. Moreover, she is a non-resident research fellow at the Asia Centre of the Italian Institute for Political Studies (ISPI) and non-resident James A. Kelly Fellow at Pacific Forum. Previously, Dr. Frassineti was selected as an emerging leader for the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) and as a fellow for the Korea Foundation Next Generation Policy Expert Network with Chatham House. Dr. Frassineti received her B.A. and M.A. in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna and Ph.D. in Global and International Studies from the same university.
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