North Korean soldiers are undergoing training in Russia to go to war in Ukraine. This suggests that military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow could have entered a new phase.
The Washington Post reports on this.
DPRK soldiers for war in Ukraine
According to a source in Ukrainian military intelligence, several thousand North Korean infantrymen are currently undergoing training in Russia and could be sent to Ukraine by the end of this year. North Korean officers are already in the occupied territory to study the situation at the front. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces have not yet seen North Koreans in combat.
Now watching
The Kremlin denies claims that Pyongyang is sending troops to fight in Ukraine.
Let us recall that back in the summer, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense pact. Kim promised Putin full support. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the DPRK and Russia only strengthened their cooperation.
At first, Moscow asked Pyongyang for weapons, in particular artillery shells. And now, apparently, Pyongyang is sending soldiers.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that it is very likely that North Korean troops are helping the Russians. Seoul does not rule out that Pyongyang will send more of its military personnel to Russia.
Earlier, the Russian Telegram channel reported that more than 20 soldiers, including six North Korean officers, were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on October 3. Sources in the Russian Defense Ministry claim that three more North Koreans were wounded at the front.
Pyongyang sent troops to monitor
Ukraine claims that North Korea sent its troops to the front in Ukraine to monitor the use of North Korean ammunition and ballistic missiles. There are reports that some of the North Koreans have already been killed. This was written, in particular, by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kovalenko.
It is not yet known where exactly on the front the North Korean units will fight. Perhaps Russia will use them in the border regions to free up its troops to fight in Ukraine.
South Korea believes that this is a very real scenario.
In 2022, the two Russian Federations and the DPRK discussed sending North Korean workers to the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine for construction work. According to Daily NK, a Seoul-based monitoring group with informants in North Korea, Pyongyang sent about 150 of its workers to Donbass.
North Korea is known to have been sending workers, mainly lumberjacks and builders, for a long time. to Russia to make money for the Kim Jong-un regime.
Where Else Has the North Korean Military Been Involved
It is worth noting that in 2016, North Korean missile technicians traveled to Damascus, the capital of Syria, and also helped run chemical and missile factories in Barzeh, Adra, and Hama.
North Korea has also offered military aid, weapons, and training to strengthen bilateral relations in Africa. And during the Vietnam War, the DPRK sent pilots to help defend North Vietnam from American air attacks.
