North Korea has already sent 3 000 of its troops to Russia, according to South Korean intelligence. This is twice as much as the previous estimate — on October 18, Seoul declared that 1 500 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia.
Reuters writes about it.
In total, Pyongyang promised Moscow to send almost 10 000 soldiers to Russia, South Korean parliamentarians said in a conversation with journalists. Their deployment is expected to be completed in December 2024.
"Signs of military training in North Korea were noticed in September and October. It appears that the troops are now spread across several educational institutions in Russia and are adapting to the local environment,” said Park Soonwon, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee.
Earlier, both Moscow and Pyongyang denied that North Korean soldiers would be sent to the front in Ukraine. But South Korean intelligence has evidence that North Korea supplies Russia with military and equipment. There are also indications that North Korean authorities have isolated and resettled families of soldiers who went to Russia to control them and suppress rumours.
Russia has also hired a "large number" of translators for North Korean soldiers. They are taught modern drone warfare tactics, but it takes time to adapt. So South Korea believes that there may be many casualties among North Korean soldiers once they are sent to the front.
The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov claimed that the first North Korean units could arrive on the Kursk front as early as October 23. He did not specify the number of troops that will arrive in the region.
Participation of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine
The National Intelligence Service of South Korea reported that the DPRK has already sent 1 500 special forces to Russia. In general, according to South Korean intelligence, 12 thousand soldiers will be sent to Russia. The first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports to hide their participation in the war.
Soon after that, videos about the training of North Koreans at Russian training grounds began to appear on the Internet, and Babelʼs sources said that they were being trained in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, and Vladivostok. And on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation, a "special Buryat battalion" is being formed, staffed by citizens of the DPRK.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a former Russian spy, wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more.
The head of GUR Kyrylo Budanov says that in exchange for soldiers, North Korea receives money and nuclear technology from Russia.
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