North Korea and China are 'direct enablers' of Russia’s war in Ukraine, EU envoy says

North Korea and China are directly helping Russia fight its war in Ukraine, the European Union’s top envoy for the Indo-Pacific said in Seoul on Thursday.

Maria Castillo Fernandez, EU special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, also urged South Korea to expand its maritime security cooperation with Europe as global shipping faces mounting threats in the Strait of Hormuz, in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily in Seoul.

“We have seen both the DPRK and China as very direct enablers of Russia’s war,” Castillo Fernandez said at the EU Delegation in central Seoul, referring to the North by the abbreviation of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. “They are helping Russia very much, making an impact on the situation on the battlefield.”

While the EU supports President Lee Jae Myung’s push to reopen dialogue with North Korea, the envoy stressed that Brussels remains highly alarmed by the military quid pro quo between North Korea and Russia.

"We are also worried that all of this comes with a payoff or a reward," she said. "And we see a very quick improvement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile developments, and this is certainly a big concern.

“Our goal is always denuclearization,” she said.

She added that several European embassies, including those of Sweden and Poland, have recently returned to Pyongyang to serve as crucial communication channels.

The envoy’s visit comes as Seoul faces increasing pressure from Washington to deploy naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz.

The vital shipping route has been largely blocked since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with commercial vessels facing near-daily attacks this month.

Highlighting the need to keep international shipping lanes open, Castillo Fernandez noted that South Korea has a clear role to play in EU maritime security initiatives.

“We cannot do it alone, so we need our trusted partners, our close partners to work with us because whatever happens in those areas affects them as well," she said. "Korean ships are affected, Korean people are affected.”

The EU has proposed that its Red Sea naval mission, Operation Aspides, take a leading role in clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz alongside British and French forces, though any mandate change requires the approval of all 27 member states.

Castillo Fernandez did not specify how Seoul should weigh U.S. demands against European initiatives.

“This is part of the discussions that are still ongoing on — how we can de-escalate and how we can bring peace to the Middle East,” she said.

South Korea has worked with EU naval forces before.

A South Korean warship joined the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia in 2017 under an agreement that allows Korea to take part in EU crisis management missions.

Castillo Fernandez said South Korean naval officers have been posted to Atalanta’s headquarters in Rota, Spain, “to maintain that connection, that training and that relationship.”

Seoul also joined the EU’s “No Fees, No Tolls” pledge, spearheaded by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Oct. 12, which opposes transit charges in international straits. Iran has sought to charge fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Looking ahead, the two sides are seeking a mandate to negotiate a Korea-EU Security of Information Agreement, which leaders initially announced in June.

“It will take a bit of time because this is not something you can do quickly," she said.

She said the pact aims to establish secure channels for defense industry cooperation and sensitive company-to-company information, rather than traditional intelligence sharing, which she said already takes place between the two sides.

She declined to comment on the current diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Ukraine.

“Both of them are very close partners to us, so we hope that they are able to find a bilateral solution,” she said.

Castillo Fernandez assumed her current envoy post in September 2025, after serving as EU ambassador to Seoul until 2025. She is in Seoul this week to co-host the 8th Korea-EU Working Group on Energy, Environment and Climate Change alongside the Foreign Ministry, and met with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young earlier on Thursday.

Reflecting on her return to the capital, the envoy noted the city's rapid physical transformation.

“I was going near Hannam-dong, and a whole district disappeared, so I was a bit shocked to see that,” she said. "But the people are there and always very open and friendly. So I’m happy to come back.”

BY SEO JI-EUN   [[email protected]]