North Korea appears to have sent at least 3,000 more of its troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine, the South Korean military said on Thursday.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 3,000 additional troops were deployed in January and February, on top of the 11,000 soldiers reported by Seoul’s intelligence services, who were sent to Russia in autumn last year.
In November, the troops were deployed to fight in Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine partially occupied following a lightning summer offensive. According to Kyiv, they were withdrawn from the frontlines in January after suffering heavy casualties.
Around 400 of the North Korean troops were killed and 3,600 wounded, South Korean lawmaker Yoo Yong-won said during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.
However, military experts believe that Pyongyang’s soldiers could have gained vital battlefield experience and supported Russia’s recent counteroffensive in Kursk to push back the Ukrainians, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Seoul also said that Pyongyang dispatched a “significant amount” of short-range ballistic missiles, hundreds of artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers, with North Korea’s support “expected to increase according to the situation,” CNN reported.
According to U.S. officials, North Korea has also supplied thousands of shipping containers of munitions and military supplies to Russia.
In return, Russia has provided North Korea with military equipment and training. It may be close to sharing advanced drone, space, and satellite technology, the U.S. said, which was echoed by South Korean officials.
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin are strengthening military cooperation following a mutual security treaty signed last year, which commits both countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other in the event of an attack.
Alexander Matsegora, Russia’s ambassador to Pyongyang, told Russian state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta that North Korea had also treated hundreds of Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
In return for Pyongyang’s assistance, Russia supplies North Korea with coal, food and medicine, Matsegora told the outlet.
In November, the troops were deployed to fight in Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine partially occupied following a lightning summer offensive. According to Kyiv, they were withdrawn from the frontlines in January after suffering heavy casualties.
Around 400 of the North Korean troops were killed and 3,600 wounded, South Korean lawmaker Yoo Yong-won said during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.
However, military experts believe that Pyongyang’s soldiers could have gained vital battlefield experience and supported Russia’s recent counteroffensive in Kursk to push back the Ukrainians, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Seoul also said that Pyongyang dispatched a “significant amount” of short-range ballistic missiles, hundreds of artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers, with North Korea’s support “expected to increase according to the situation,” CNN reported.
According to U.S. officials, North Korea has also supplied thousands of shipping containers of munitions and military supplies to Russia.
In return, Russia has provided North Korea with military equipment and training. It may be close to sharing advanced drone, space, and satellite technology, the U.S. said, which was echoed by South Korean officials.
Moscow and Pyongyang’s deepening cooperation
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin are strengthening military cooperation following a mutual security treaty signed last year, which commits both countries to provide immediate military assistance to each other in the event of an attack.
Alexander Matsegora, Russia’s ambassador to Pyongyang, told Russian state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta that North Korea had also treated hundreds of Russian soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
In return for Pyongyang’s assistance, Russia supplies North Korea with coal, food and medicine, Matsegora told the outlet.
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