The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) warned Monday it will pursue the impeachment of the defense minister if the government decides to send “armed forces” to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops without parliamentary consent.

Seoul is reportedly considering sending a team of South Korean officials, likely made up of intelligence officials and North Korea specialists from the spy agency and the military, to Ukraine. The team’s purpose would be to analyze the tactics employed by North Korean troops deployed to help Russia’s war efforts.

Citing Article 60 of the Constitution, which grants the National Assembly the authority to approve “the dispatch of armed forces overseas,” DP Rep. Kim Byung-joo argued during the party’s Supreme Council meeting that “sending even one person overseas is equivalent to the dispatch of the armed forces.”

“If the government sends troops to the battlefields in Ukraine without parliamentary consent, the DP will take various measures, including the impeachment of the defense
minister,” the lawmaker said.

Kim accused the government of attempting to bypass parliamentary consent by labeling the deployment as a “monitoring team” or “observers.”

“This is an extremely dangerous act of volunteering for a proxy war between North and South Korea,” he said, suggesting the team could be used for psychological warfare against Pyongyang or interrogating North Korean prisoners of war.

During the meeting, DP Rep. Lee Un-ju also stressed that the act of recklessly intervening in another country’s war against the overwhelming majority will of the people and putting their lives at risk “will never be forgiven.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency