North Korea has started sending troops to support Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, the South Korean intelligence agency said, while Seoul expressed concerns about a “serious security threat”. The accusation came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean troops could join the conflict, based on intelligence information. The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, called a meeting on security, declaring that the international community “all means available”. The South Korean presidential office said that last Friday’s security meeting was attended by key figures from the National Security Council, the Ministry of Defense and the National Intelligence Service. The participants agreed not to ignore the situation and to collaborate with the international community using all available tools”, reads the official note.
1,500 soldiers have already arrived in Russia
According to data from the spy agency, around 1,500 soldiers have already arrived in Russia, and anonymous sources told South Korean media that the final number could reach 12,000. In a statement released on its website, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) revealed that between October 8 and 13, Russian naval ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special forces members to the port city of Vladivostok. These soldiers are now participating in a training program. “The use of North Korean troops on the front line is expected once the training phase is completed,” the agency reported, adding that additional contingents of North Korean soldiers will be sent to Russia shortly. According to the NIS, the North Korean soldiers were equipped with Russian military uniforms, weapons produced in Russia and false identity documents identifying them as residents of the Siberian regions of Yakutia and Buryatia and as The Guardian writes «they appear to have disguised themselves as soldiers Russians to hide the fact that they had been deployed on the battlefield.”
Russia denies but satellite images don’t lie
The NIS also released satellite and other images that reportedly show movements of Russian navy ships in the vicinity of a North Korean port. Additionally, the photos highlight alleged North Korean mass gatherings that took place last week in the cities of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk in Russia’s far east. Russia has categorically denied the use of North Korean troops in the conflict. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, rejected such claims during a press conference last week, calling them “yet another fake news.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance was not yet able to confirm South Korean intelligence information regarding a possible massive deployment of troops by North Korea in support of Russia. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met for the first time in 2019, have stepped up military and economic cooperation in an effort to counter growing international isolation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and from North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. Last June, the two leaders signed a pact that provides for a mutual assistance clause in the event of an attack on either country. According to a Ukrainian source, Pyongyang is estimated to have supplied about half of the large-caliber ammunition used in battle this year, with more than 2 million rounds. Additionally, it supplied KN-23 missiles, which were used in numerous attacks in Ukraine last winter, as reported by Ukrainian media. In exchange for its missiles and military hardware, North Korea is believed to be seeking funding from Russia, as well as assistance for its spy satellite program, which has encountered several failures over the past two years. These developments come as evidence grows of North Korea’s support for Russia with ammunition supplies, confirmed by the recent recovery of a missile in the Poltava region of Ukraine.
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