North Korea plans to send generals to aid Russian forces in their war against Ukraine, Kyiv has said.
Some 500 officers, including three generals, will be among the 12,000 North Korean troops expected to be deployed in Russia, Ukraine‘s defense intelligence agency wrote in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. The agency did not disclose the basis for this claim.
The claim came a day after the U.S. assessed that at least 3,000 North Korean troops were already in the country. Speaking in Rome, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that if Moscow and Pyongyang were “cobelligerents,” it would be “a very, very serious issue.”
North Korea has denied having boots on the ground for its ally, first alleged last week by South Korean sources. The Kremlin has downplayed the reports, emphasizing that its dealings with North Korea are within the bounds of international law.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, speaks with officials during a missile base inspection in this photo shared by state media on October 23. Ukrainian intelligence believes 500 North Korean officers, including three generals,…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, speaks with officials during a missile base inspection in this photo shared by state media on October 23. Ukrainian intelligence believes 500 North Korean officers, including three generals, will be among 12,000 troops Pyongyang will deploy to aid Russian forces in their war against Ukraine.
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Korean Central News Agency
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the North Korean embassy in China with emailed requests for comment.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence agency, North Koreans are undergoing “several weeks” of training across five training grounds in Russia’s Far East.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has been tasked with overseeing the acclimation and training of the North Korean arrivals, who are reportedly being provided with winter clothing, bedding, ammunition, and toiletries.
The Ukrainian statement noted that the first North Korean units had already reached the front lines in the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have been engaged in a counteroffensive since early August, putting Russian forces on the back foot.
Approximately 2,000 troops are reportedly being deployed to western Russia near the Ukrainian border, Japan’s Kyodo News cited Ukrainian military intelligence as saying on Thursday.
At least some North Korean troops were purported to have engaged in combat earlier this week, with a Chinese mercenary claiming on social media that eight North Korean soldiers were killed shortly after joining the fighting. Last week, Ukrainian media cited intelligence officials as saying Russia was searching for at least 18 alleged North Korean deserters.
On Thursday, Russian lawmakers ratified the military agreement reached between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the latter’s state visit to Pyongyang in June. The pact, the first of its kind since the Cold War, obliges both nations to provide “all means” of military assistance if either is attacked.
The treaty has further escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with South Korea considering the possibility of providing offensive equipment to Ukraine directly. Seoul has reiterated this stance since news broke of the North Korean deployments.