Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul says the international community should be on alert regarding the deployment of North Korean troops to assist Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.

Cho issued the appeal during an outreach session for the Indo-Pacific region at the Group of Seven(G7) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Italy from Monday to Tuesday.

According to the South Korean foreign ministry, Cho outlined Seoul’s diplomatic and security strategies and the measures it has taken concerning Ukraine, Russia and North Korea.

The minister stressed the need for close coordination by the international community to stop what he called the illegal military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Cho expressed South Korea’s intention to continue cooperating with the G7 member states on various issues as a core nation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The minister also held separate talks with his counterparts from the G7 and other invited countries, including a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to discuss the current state of the Russia-Ukraine war and aid to Kyiv from Seoul.