North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support its war with Ukraine, South Korean lawyers said Wednesday after being tipped off by the country’s intelligence agency. That rate is double the previous amount.
Pyongyang has promised to provide up to 10,000 troops, with the deployment expected to be completed by December, lawyers told reporters.
The latest numbers came after Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said on Friday that the North had sent 1,500 special forces to Russia by ship.
“Signs of soldiers being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October,” said Park Sun-won, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, after the briefing.
“It seems that the soldiers have now been dispersed to many training centers in Russia and are getting used to the environment.”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 troops to Russia, and asked the allies on Tuesday to respond to evidence of North Korea’s involvement in the Russian war.
‘High rise’ if use is confirmed
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking to reporters in Rome on Wednesday, said there is “evidence” that North Korean troops are in Russia, and it remains to be seen what they will be doing there.
If the presence of North Korean troops is confirmed, “that would mean a huge escalation,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that it was not clear what the North Korean military was doing in Russia.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers, but have pledged to strengthen military ties, signing a defense pact at a summit in June. The Kremlin has dismissed as “fake news” South Korea’s claim of military deployment to the North.
On Monday, a senior US official said Washington was discussing the consequences of North Korea’s involvement, adding that such developments would be “dangerous and very concerning” if true.
Pyongyang has not publicly responded to Seoul and Kyiv’s claims, but authorities there have made efforts to keep news of their deployment from spreading, said Lee Seong-kweun, another lawyer at the South Korean committee.
A Ukrainian government agency says North Korea has sent troops to Russia to support military operations in Ukraine. An unverified video allegedly shows North Koreans picking up Russian uniforms and military equipment.
Lee also said that the intelligence agency had confirmed that Russia employed “a large number” of interpreters for the North Korean military, while training them to use military weapons, such as drones.
“Russian teachers assess that North Korean soldiers have excellent physical and moral qualities but do not understand modern warfare such as drone attacks,” the lawyer said.
Park said that it is possible that Pyongyang wants to return Russia as soon as possible in the event of an emergency on the Korean peninsula and receive economic assistance.
On Tuesday, the South’s presidential office called for an immediate withdrawal of the North’s troops from Russia, warning that it may consider supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine if military relations between them escalate.
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