North Korea sends troops to Russia, South Korean intelligence says

Photo: KCNA via KNS Agence France-Presse This photo released by North Korea's official news agency shows the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, surrounded by generals.

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Published at 10:09 Updated at 12:50

• Europe

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

While NATO said it was unable to confirm the alleged deployment “at this stage,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga posted on X: “North Korea supports Russia’s aggression against Ukraine with weapons and troops. […] We demand an immediate and strong response from the Euro-Atlantic community and the world.”

He called once again on the West to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons and to “intercept” Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian territory.

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

North Korea has decided to send up to 12,000 troops to help Russia, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). The NIS released detailed satellite images showing what it said were the first deployments of the 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 a separate 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 the war against Ukraine.

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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 “posing as Russian soldiers,” the NIS accused.

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.

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13,000 containers of weapons

For British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, if the presence of North Korean troops in Russia were confirmed, it would demonstrate “the level of desperation” on the part of Moscow.

“Russia is weakening,” added Keir Starmer, insisting that allies remained “absolutely committed” to supporting kyiv.

In Paris, French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that “North Korea’s increasing cross-cooperation and military support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine (were) very worrying.”

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 U.N. sanctions against Russia and North Korea.

The NIS said Friday that North Korea had “provided 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.

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

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