North Korean
South Korea’s spy service reported that North Korea has begun sending troops to fight Russia in Ukraine, while Seoul issued a “severe security threat” warning.
The accusation was made the day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he thought 10,000 North Korean soldiers could join the conflict based on intelligence data.
“All available means” must be used by the international community in response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Friday call for a security meeting.
The spy service reports that 1,500 troops have already reached Russia, but South Korean media has heard from unidentified sources that the actual number may be closer to 12,000 troops.
This occurs while there is growing evidence that North Korea is providing Russia with munitions, as evidenced by the recent recovery of a missile in the Poltava region of Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin
In recent months, Moscow and Pyongyang have also been strengthening their relations. In his birthday greeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as his “closest comrade” last week.
Important representatives from the Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Service, and South Korea’s National Security Office attended the security meeting on Friday, according to Yoon’s office.
“[The participants] decided not to ignore the situation and to jointly respond to it with the international community using all available means,” it said.
The claim from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) follows reports from Ukrainian military intelligence sources that Russia’s army is assembling a North Korean battalion.
According to Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s espionage service, around 11,000 North Korean infantry soldiers are preparing to fight in Ukraine in eastern Russia.
According to Lt Gen Budanov, chief of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate, “they will be ready [to fight in Ukraine] on 1 November,” he said on the Warzone.
Additionally, he stated that the first batch of 2,600 soldiers will be deployed to Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine controls many communities following its invasion in August, and that the North Koreans would be use Russian weapons and ammunition.
In an effort to ratify a military agreement he signed with Kim, Putin sponsored a measure earlier this week that promises North Korea and Russia will support one another in the case of “aggression” against either nation.
According to the NIS, South Korea’s espionage service, North Korean forces are undergoing training at Russian facilities in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vlagoveshensk.
This seems to support a military source in the Far East of Russia who informed BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were present at one of the military installations close to Ussuriysk.
Additionally, Seoul’s intelligence service published overhead photos of North Korea’s Chongjin port, where a group of hundreds of troops are reportedly stationed, and Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, where a Russian ship was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.
North Korea has transferred 13,000 shipping containers filled with shells, missiles, and anti-armour rockets to Russia since August, according to the NIS.
The report stated that Russia has received up to eight million 122-mm and 152-mm rounds.
Nonetheless, some military analysts predict that the Russian military forces will struggle to integrate North Korean forces into their front lines.
They said that the North Korean army has no recent combat action experience aside from the language barrier.
Editor of the Ukrainian journal Defence Express Valeriy Ryabykh stated, “They could protect some areas of the Russian-Ukrainian border, freeing up Russian units for fighting elsewhere.”
“I would rule out the possibility that these units will show up on the front line right away.”