North Korea will send 12,000 troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, South Korea says

South Korean intelligence has discovered that North Korea has sent 12,000 troops, including special operations forces, to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, news reports said Friday, a development that could draw a third country into the fold. war and intensify a confrontation between North Korea and the West.

The Yonhap news agency quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying that the North has already left the country, formed in four brigades. Other South Korean media outlets published similar reports.

If confirmed, it would be North Korea’s first major involvement in a foreign war. North Korea has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest armies in the world, but lacks real combat experience.

Many experts question how much sending North Korean troops would help Russia, citing North Korea’s outdated equipment and lack of battle experience.

Experts also said North Korea likely received Russian promises of security support during intense clashes over the advancement of its nuclear program with the United States and South Korea.

During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact that stipulates mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the largest defense agreement between the two. countries since the end of the Cold War. .

The NIS did not immediately confirm the report, but South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had chaired an emergency meeting earlier Friday to discuss sending North Korean troops to Ukraine. The statement said meeting participants agreed that North Korea’s sending of troops represents a serious threat to the security of South Korea and the international community.

But the presidential office did not provide further details on when and how many North Korean soldiers have been sent to Ukraine and what roles they are expected to play.

Russia has denied using North Korean troops in the war, with presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov describing the claims as “another fake news” during a news conference last week, according to Russian media.

Ukrainian media reported earlier this month that six North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile attack in the partially occupied eastern region of Donetsk on October 3.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has information that 10,000 North Korean troops are preparing to join Russian forces fighting his country, and warned that a third nation joining the hostilities could turn the conflict into a “world war.”

“From our intelligence we have information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told reporters at NATO headquarters. “They are preparing 10,000 soldiers on their lands, but they have not yet transferred them to Ukraine or Russia.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the Western alliance “has no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fighting. But we do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways: weapons supplies, technological supplies and innovation, to support it in the war effort. And that is very worrying.”

The United States, South Korea and their partners have accused North Korea of ​​supplying Russia with artillery shells, missiles and other equipment to help fuel its war against Ukraine.

Officials and outside experts say North Korea, in return, likely received much-needed food and economic aid and technological assistance to upgrade Kim’s nuclear military. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied the existence of an arms deal between the countries.