The leader of main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Lee Jae-myung attends a meeting of the party's Supreme Council at the National Assembly in Seoul, Oct. 28. Yonhap

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday criticized the government for considering sending a team of South Korean officials to Kyiv to monitor North Korean troops.

Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea made the remarks during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, denouncing the government for considering "sneakily" sending South Korean personnel in the name of an inspection group.

"There are suspicions (the government) may be stirring up conflict on the Korean Peninsula based on North Korea's sending of troops to the Russia-Ukraine war, and judging from its actions, they don't seem entirely far-fetched," he said.

Lee also opposed the idea of Seoul offering lethal weapons to Ukraine, likening the provision of weapons to participating in the war itself.

Last week, President Yoon Suk Yeol said the South could consider providing arms to Ukraine, vowing not to "sit idle" in response to Pyongyang's troop dispatch to Russia.

On reports South Korea's spy agency plans to dispatch an interrogation team to question North Korean prisoners of war, Lee balked at the idea, saying, "Are they out of their minds?"

Still, Lee made clear that North Korea should not be deploying its soldiers to the war and "strongly" condemned the action while urging the North to withdraw its troops.

Last week, the National Intelligence Service said 3,000 North Koreans have been sent to Russia, with about 10,000 expected to be deployed by December. The United States has also confirmed at least 3,000 North Koreans were sent to eastern Russia this month. (Yonhap)