South Korea protests 'Victory' banner hung from Russian embassy

South Korea has protested to Russia after its embassy in Seoul unfurled a giant banner declaring "Victory will be ours", an apparent reference to the anniversary of the Ukraine war.

South Korea opposes Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its recruitment of soldiers from North Korea, with which Seoul remains technically at war.

The red, white and blue banner, written in Russian, was first spotted over the weekend and remained in place at the embassy on Monday morning, an AFP reporter saw.

Its appearance has coincided with the four-year anniversary of the Ukraine war, which falls on Tuesday.

"The South Korean government has consistently maintained the position that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an illegal act," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"In this context, we have conveyed our position to the Russian side regarding the recent display of a banner on the outer walls of the Russian Embassy in Seoul and public remarks made by the Russian Ambassador to South Korea." 

Neither the Russian nor Ukrainian embassies in Seoul immediately responded to a request for comment.

The incident follows reported remarks this month by Moscow's ambassador Georgy Zinoviev in praise of the North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia.

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"Russia is well aware of how much North Korean troops contributed to liberating the southern part of the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces," Zinoviev said during a meeting with South Korean reporters, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

North Korea has sent thousands of troops to fight for Russia, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies.

Seoul has estimated that around 2,000 have been killed. 

Analysts say North Korea is receiving financial aid, military technology, food and energy supplies from Russia in return. 

Seoul has said the troop deployments constitute a "serious threat to our national security" and that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia "must therefore cease".

North and South Korea are still technically at war because the 1950–53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

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