South and North Korea troops potentially entering Ukraine war unlikely to stoke regional conflict, analysts say

South and North Korea troops potentially entering the Russia-Ukraine war is unlikely to stoke a wider conflict between the two Korean countries, experts said.

South Korea is reportedly considering sending intelligence personnel to Ukraine, according to Yonhap News.

This comes after South Korea's defense ministry told NBC News that North Korea had sent up to 12,000 troops to fight on Russia's side.

Yonhap said South Korea could deploy military personnel from intelligence units, "who could analyze North Korean battlefield tactics or take part in interrogations of captured North Koreans."

The U.S. on Wednesday confirmed that North Korean troops had been sent to Russia.

While South Korea has not publicly confirmed or denied plans to deploy personnel in Ukraine, the country has reportedly warned that it would send arms, depending on the level of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

This would also mark a departure from Seoul's long-held policy of not supplying weapons to countries in conflicts, South Korea President Yoon Seok Yeol reportedly said.

Experts told CNBC that South Korea was unlikely to authorize the deployment of troops for combat in Ukraine.

"I do not foresee the Yoon administration approving the deployment of troops for actual combat operations on Ukrainian soil," said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Seoul deploying observers will not be a significant escalation, as Kyiv's partners have non-combatant observers already in Ukraine, Nah said.

If Seoul deploys military personnel to help Ukraine with intelligence, technical training, or even to help interrogate North Korean prisoners of war, it would motivate Ukraine's other allies to dispatch their own