North Korea is reportedly getting ready to send swaths of troops to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, South Korea and Kyiv warned on Thursday and Friday.
The Russia-Ukraine war has dragged on for years and shown no signs of slowing down, even as neither side has made significant advances or moved the needle toward victory. South Korea’s intelligence agency alleged on Friday that North Korea, a close ally of Russia, has already deployed some 1,500 special forces to aid Russia in the war against Ukraine, and more troops are to come, according to multiple reports.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) “confirmed that North Korea began its participation in the war by transporting special forces to Russia via Russian Navy transport ships from Oct. 8 to 13,” according to South Korean media. “They are expected to be sent to the battlefield once they complete their adaptation training.”
A fleet of naval vessels with the 1,500 soldiers aboard departed from North Korea to Russia during the Oct. 8 to Oct. 13 timeframe, according to South Korean media. A second deployment is “expected to take place soon,” the NIS said.
GeoConfirmed UKR.
Reportedly, soldiers of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea, are undergoing training in Russia.
This identification is based on the language used in the video.44.326859, 131.668647
8MG9+PFR Sergeevka, Primorsky Krai,… https://t.co/ut5egxBz0w— GeoConfirmed (@GeoConfirmed) October 18, 2024
The North Korean operatives were given Russian military uniforms, weapons and fake identification documents, according to NIS.
“This appears to be an attempt to disguise them as Russian soldiers and conceal their involvement in the war,” NIS said.
South Korea’s warning is similar to claims made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, who said that North Korea was readying 10,000 troops to deploy to Russia, according to Axios. The NIS has not always been correct in assessing North Korea’s operations — given the hermit kingdom’s incredibly secretive nature — but if true, it would be an unprecedented development, according to The Associated Press.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened their ties in recent years, making up key parts of the new so-called “Axis of Evil,” which also includes China and Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean President Kim Jong-un have met on several occasions in that time and vowed deeper cooperation on a wide range of fronts, including trade, intelligence sharing and military operations.
Will North Korean troops make an impact in Ukraine?
Approximately 13,000 shipping containers filled with ballistic missiles, artillery shells and rockets have been delivered by North Korea to Russia since August 2023, according to Reuters.
The Pentagon would not confirm or deny on Thursday if North Korean troops had been sent to Russia, though it noted that should those reports be correct, it would mean that Russia is becoming increasingly dependent on its allies as the war drags on.
“It just demonstrates the desperation in terms of identifying additional forces for their military, but it’s something that [we] will continue to keep a close eye on,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
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