In June 2024, Russia and the DPRK signed an agreement on a "comprehensive strategic partnership" — the DPRK can "provide military aid without delay" if Russia is attacked. And if there is a "direct threat of an armed attack", North Korea and Russia will cooperate to eliminate it.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun says the deal is "very similar to a military alliance" and that it is "very likely" that North Korea will send troops to Ukraine. Putin denies this, but on October 14 he submitted a bill to the State Duma to ratify the agreement.
"Several thousand" North Korean infantrymen are already undergoing training in Russia, an anonymous representative of Ukrainian military intelligence tells The Washington Post. By the end of 2024, they can be sent to the front line or replace Russian units in the border regions of the Russian Federation.
According to him, North Korean officers are monitoring Russian troops in Ukraine and studying the battlefield. However, the government has yet to see any Korean units fighting.
Babelʼs source in Ukrainian intelligence says that Russia is preparing a battalion of approximately three thousand North Korean soldiers based on the 11th separate amphibious assault brigade. Now they are provided with weapons and ammunition. They will serve near Sudzha and Kursk, intelligence officials assume.
The Ukrainian intelligence sourse also tell Babel that 18 military personnel from the DPRK have already escaped from their positions. They served in Russia — about 7 kilometers from the border of Ukraine with the Bryansk and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation. The soldiers are now being sought, and they are trying to hide this information from the Russian high command.
In Yonhapʼs commentary, a Russian analyst suggests that the terms of the treaty with North Korea allow Russia to attract North Korean soldiers to Ukrainian-occupied territories, because they were "officially joined to the Russian Federation after the referendums."
In October 2024, six North Korean soldiers died near Donetsk. Three others were injured. Russiaʼs anonymous Telegram channels say they came to the range to share experiences and see how the Russians "prepare for assault and defense." There is no official information about the purpose of the visit.
The Guardian writes that dozens of North Korean military engineers are already working at the front. They support the operation of launchers for the Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, escort cargo, fix shortages and report on the effectiveness of North Korean weapons on the battlefield.
In June 2024, the South Korean media, citing an anonymous official, wrote that the engineering troops of the DPRK will restore infrastructure in the occupied Donetsk region. ISW analysts assumed that thanks to them, the Russian military would be able to expand defensive fortifications and focus on frontline operations. However, the Pentagon said that it did not record any such movements.
Some media write that the DPRK can send up to 100 000 volunteer fighters to Ukraine. Russian propagandist Ihor Korotchenko first declared this in 2022 on the "Russia 1" channel, without mentioning the source of the information. He also said that the North Koreans would rebuild the occupied cities.
There are no confirmations of this information. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia called these statements "fake", and the head of the CPD Andriy Kovalenko called them "fabrications".
North Korea already supplies Russia with ballistic missiles and nearly three million projectiles a year. Many of these shells are defective and of poor quality, but their numbers give Russia an advantage on the battlefield, writes The Sunday Times.
This is confirmed by satellite images published by the RUSI researchers. They tracked the movement of Russian cargo ships from the DPRK to Russia. Since 2023, North Korea regularly delivers hundreds of containers with ammunition to Russian warehouses (for example, in Tikhoretsk).
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