North Korea has sent troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine, South Korea says
North Korea has dispatched troops to fight with Russian forces against Ukraine, according to South Korean intelligence.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (SIS) said in a statement that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok between October 8 and October 13.
The North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have been given Russian military uniforms, weapons and forged identification documents.
According to the statement, they are currently staying at military bases in Vladivostok and other Russian sites such as Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk.
They will likely be deployed to battle grounds after completing their adaptation training, it continued.
The NIS shared images of what it calls Russian navy ship movements near a North Korean port and suspected North Korean mass gatherings in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk in the past week.
If confirmed, it would be North Korea's first major participation in a foreign war. The country has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest militaries in the world.
However, North Korea's forces lack combat experience and have outdated equipment.
During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked.
The deal has been considered the two countries’ biggest defence deal since the end of the Cold War.
South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had presided over an emergency meeting earlier Friday to discuss North Korea’s troop dispatch to Russia.
The statement said participants of the meeting agreed that North Korea’s troop dispatch poses a grave security threat to South Korea and the international community.
Russia has denied using North Korean troops in the war, with Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov describing the claims as “another piece of fake news” during a news conference last week, according to Russia media.
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Ukrainian media reported earlier this month that six North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile strike in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has intelligence that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the western alliance “have no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fight" but that it is aware the country is supporting Russia in a number of ways, including weapons supplies.
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