South Korea’s spy agency reported Friday that at least 1,500 North Korean special forces are training in far eastern Russia, and it showed satellite photos tracking their movements.
Ukrainian officials have accused North Korea of preparing to send as many as 10,000 troops to fight on Russia’s side against Ukrainian forces, a move that could significantly exacerbate tensions between Pyongyang and the West.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had first tracked a top Pyongyang missile development official visiting Russian front lines in August with dozens of other North Korean officers. They were providing “on-site guidance” to Russian forces using North Korean weapons, the agency said.
Then, from Oct. 8 to 13, the NIS tracked some 1,500 North Korean special forces troops moving to eastern Russia. The agency said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has pledged to support Russia in its war on Ukraine, inspected the troops twice before their deployment.
The troops were issued Russian uniforms, weapons and IDs, Seoul said, and assigned to units composed of Siberian soldiers to try to disguise them as Russians rather than North Koreans.
Seoul also reported that Pyongyang has provided some 13,000 containers of weapons to Russia in as many as 70 shipments since August 2023, including up to 8 million rounds of desperately needed 122mm and 152mm artillery shells.
The spy agency said those shipments, including artillery rounds, missiles and antitank rockets, were sent to Russia starting in August last year, based on remnants found on the battlefield.
“The direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea that foreign media has been reporting has officially been confirmed,” the agency said in a statement.
The NIS does not have a consistent record on its assessments of North Korean leadership and its intentions.
The South Korean report comes at a difficult moment for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky attempts to shore up support for his “victory plan” to end the war. He has traveled to the United States and Europe to plead with partners for support, including permission to use Western weapons to strike inside Russia, and to seek a fast-tracked NATO membership that would provide key security guarantees to the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed a mutual defense pact this summer, vowing to expand their military cooperation.
North Korean intervention in foreign wars is rare. If North Korean troops fight in the Russian war, it would be their first major combat effort outside the country. North Korea’s logic is that “a soldier should be inside the country where he or she may be controlled and indoctrinated,” said Fyodor Tertitskiy, an expert on North Korea’s history and military at Seoul’s Kookmin University.
Pyongyang is believed to have sent Putin old Soviet-era munitions that Russia desperately needs, according to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean officials. U.S. officials say those shipments have included artillery shells and other weapons, and in return, North Korea may be receiving Russian help to advance its own weapons program.
North Korea has a stockpile of Soviet-era weapons that it has maintained since the cease-fire that halted the 1950-1953 Korean War, in case conflict resumes. It has also been training its military for potential conflict, but its young troops lack actual combat experience.
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