North Korea is sending troops to Russia, South Korean intelligence services believe

South Korea believes that North Korea has sent troops to Russia, posing a serious security threat to the international community, to which Seoul will respond with all available means, the presidential office said in a statement on Friday.

In addition, South Korea’s spy agency said the North was participating in the war in Ukraine and had decided to send 12,000 troops, including a special forces unit, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held an unscheduled security meeting with key intelligence, military and national security officials to discuss the involvement of North Korean forces in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the report said.

“The participants shared the view that the current situation, in which the closer ties between Russia and North Korea have gone beyond just moving military supplies to actually sending troops, poses a serious threat to security, not only to us country but also for the international community,” the report said. .

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South Korean officials have previously said it was likely true that North Korean personnel were in Russia and involved in the war with Ukraine, but have not provided a clear answer on the nature or extent of such deployment.

Yoon’s office said South Korea, along with its allies, has closely monitored North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia from its initial stages. However, it did not provide any information to support the troop deployment claim.

It also did not indicate whether it had information on whether North Korean troops were involved in fighting.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service could not immediately be reached for confirmation of the report on North Korean troop numbers.

Weapons being sent to Russia, West believes

Yonhap said the agency recently learned of North Korea’s decision to deploy four brigades, including a special forces unit, and that the movement of troops has already begun.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea on Thursday of deploying officers alongside Russia and preparing to send thousands of troops to help Moscow’s war effort, although NATO chief Mark Rutte said there was no evidence at this stage of Pyongyang’s presence.

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Zelenskyy said about 10,000 North Korean soldiers are preparing to deploy in the fight against Ukraine, but Kiev’s Western allies have yet to confirm their claim that Pyongyang is sending troops, although they say they are studying it.

Since their leaders’ summit in the Russian Far East last year, North Korea and Russia have dramatically improved their military ties. They met again in June to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership that includes a mutual defense pact.

North Korea has 1.28 million active-duty troops, according to South Korea’s latest data, and has stepped up development of a range of ballistic missiles and a nuclear arsenal, fueling regional tensions and drawing international sanctions.

The deployment of troops to Russia, if confirmed, would be the first major involvement in war since the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea reportedly sent a much smaller contingent to the Vietnam War and the civil conflict in Syria.

South Korean and U.S. officials have said North Korea has supplied ballistic missiles and other munitions to Russia.

Since September last year, the North has shipped at least 16,500 containers of weapons to Russia and Russia has fired missiles from those shipments into Ukraine, Washington said.

Russia and North Korea both deny involvement in arms shipments.

The Kremlin has also rejected South Korea’s claims that North Korea may have sent military personnel to help Russia fight Ukraine.