SEOUL, October 31. /TASS/. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said the country won’t send soldiers and officers to fight in Ukraine, the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper reported.

"The minister decides to send personnel to engage in intelligence gathering as preparation for the future, but not to participate in combat," Kim Yong-hyun said at a meeting with reporters at the Korean Embassy in Washington. "I want to make this clear: There is absolutely no discussion about sending combat troops to Ukraine."

He previously supported sending military analysts and observers to study operations of the Korean People's Army if its soldiers appear in the special military operation zone in Ukraine.

Earlier, a lawmaker from a leading opposition party said sending military analysts to Ukraine would require parliamentary approval.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the allegations of the South Korean intelligence by saying earlier that Seoul's reaction made no sense.

"There is no need to play along with the Kiev regime and for its Western sponsors to be gripped by anti-Russian hysteria. It is necessary to think about the consequences for South Korea's security, which could arise should the Republic of Korea's enter the Ukrainian conflict," she said.