North Korea to deploy troops to fight with Russia: Seoul
Seoul has described North Korea's intention to send soldiers to assist Russia as a serious threat to security.
According to South Korea's intelligence agency, North Korea has begun deploying troops to assist Russia in its conflict in Ukraine. This development has raised serious concerns in Seoul about a significant security risk.
The claim was made just one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his belief that, according to intelligence reports, around 10,000 soldiers from North Korea might join the conflict.
On Friday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced a security meeting and emphasized the need for the global community to take action using "all available resources."
The intelligence agency reports that 1,500 soldiers have already reached Russia. However, unnamed sources have informed South Korean media that the total number might actually be around 12,000.
Recent findings indicate that North Korea is providing ammunition to Russia, particularly highlighted by the discovery of a missile in Ukraine’s Poltava area.
In recent months, Moscow and Pyongyang have been strengthening their partnership. Just last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday by referring to him as his "dearest ally."
Key officials from South Korea's National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defence, and the National Intelligence Service gathered for a security meeting on Friday, as reported by Yoon's office.
The participants chose to confront the issue instead of turning a blind eye and opted to work together with the global community, utilizing every resource at their disposal to address it.
The claim from the National Intelligence Service follows reports from Ukrainian military intelligence, which indicated that the Russian army is organizing a group of North Koreans.
The BBC has contacted the NIS for their response.
Earlier this week, Putin presented a proposal to approve a military agreement he established with Kim. This agreement commits Russia and North Korea to support one another in case of any "aggression" directed at either nation.
A military official in Russia's Far East informed BBC Russian this week that “several North Koreans have come” and are currently located at a military base near Ussuriysk, which is situated north of Vladivostok.
Nonetheless, certain military analysts think that the Russian armed forces may struggle to integrate North Korean soldiers into their frontline operations.
In addition to the language difficulties, they mentioned that the North Korean military lacks recent combat experience.
"According to Valeriy Ryabykh, the editor of the Ukrainian magazine Defence Express, they could monitor certain areas of the Russian-Ukrainian border, allowing Russian forces to be deployed to combat zones in other locations."
"I don't think these units will show up on the front line right away."
Further contributions to this report were made by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee in Seoul.
