North Korea sends 'troops in large numbers' to Russia, South Korean intelligence says

North Korea has decided to 'send “troops in numbers” to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, and 1,500 North Korean soldiers are already training in the Far- Russian East, South Korean intelligence said Friday.

While NATO said it was unable to confirm the alleged deployment “at this stage”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official told AFP that it showed Moscow's desire to seek a “bigger and longer war” in Ukraine, by trying to “drag its allies into it”. “This could complicate the situation” on the battlefield, the official added.

China, an ally of Pyongyang and Moscow, reiterated its hope for a “de-escalation” in Ukraine.

According to South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korea has decided to send up to 12,000 troops to help Russia. The NIS released detailed satellite images showing, according to it, the first deployment of these troops.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called an emergency meeting on the security situation on Friday.

Pyongyang's growing support for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which goes “beyond the transfer of military equipment and is manifested in troop deployments,” poses “a significant threat to the security of not only our country but also the international community,” the South Korean presidency said in a statement.

In another statement, the NIS said it had “detected from October 8 to 13 that North Korea transported its special forces to Russia in a Russian Navy transport ship, confirming the start of North Korea's military participation” in Russia's war against Ukraine.

According to the NIS, several Russian landing ships and frigates have already completed the transport of the first contingent of North Korean troops, who are currently stationed at military bases in the Russian Far East.

These soldiers “are expected to be deployed to the front lines (of the Ukrainian conflict) as soon as they complete their acclimatization training,” South Korean intelligence said.

“This appears to be an attempt to hide the fact that they are North Korean soldiers by passing them off as Russian soldiers,” the NIS charged.

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Satellite image of Airbus Defence and Space released on October 18, 2024 by South Korean intelligence, which it claims shows the Russian military base in Ussuriysk where North Korean soldiers are gathered at the training ground © SOUTH KOREA'S NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE – Handout

According to the same source, more North Korean troops are expected to be sent soon and the North could send a total of 12,000 troops.

“A second transport operation is expected to take place shortly,” the NIS added.

– 13,000 containers of weapons –

On a visit to Berlin, US President Joe Biden called on NATO countries to “maintain their support” until Ukraine obtains “a just and lasting peace”, at a time when Western aid is showing signs of weakness and the United States, if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, could radically revise its policy.

As relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have deteriorated in recent months, nuclear-armed North Korea has moved even closer to Russia, an ally of the North Korean regime since its creation after World War II. South Korea and the United States have long claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sending weapons used in Ukraine to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, during which the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty whose details were not disclosed, fueling speculation about further arms transfers – which violate a series of UN sanctions against Russia and North Korea.

The NIS said Friday that North Korea had “supplied Russia with the equivalent of more than 13,000 containers of artillery ammunition, missiles, anti-tank rockets and other lethal weapons” since August.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had information that North Korea was training some 10,000 troops to support Russia in its military campaign against kyiv.

Satellite image of Maxar Technologies released on October 18, 2024 by South Korean intelligence, according to it showing the Russian ship “Angara”, loaded with North Korean weapons, leaving the North Korean port of Rajin © SOUTH KOREA'S NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE – Handout

Ukrainian media recently reported that six North Korean soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian-occupied area near Donetsk (eastern Ukraine) on October 3.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun considered the information “most likely” to be accurate at the time.

For Hong Sung-pyo, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Military Affairs, the North probably views Ukraine “as a conflict from which it can draw valuable intelligence,” because “the North Korean army has mainly trained in isolation,” using “obsolete weapons, and lacks experience abroad.”

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