South Korea‘s spy service said that North Korea had begun sending troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia. Seoul was warning of a “grave threat”
The allegation was made a day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he believed that 10,000 North Korean soldiers would join the war based on intelligence.
The South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol convened a security meeting Friday and called on the international community to respond with “all means available”.
According to the spy agency 1,500 troops have already been deployed to Russia. However, anonymous sources told South Korean media that the final number could be closer 12,000.
The recent recovery of a missile from Ukraine’s Poltava area has shown that North Korea supplies Russia with ammunition.
In recent months, both Moscow and Pyongyang also intensified their cooperation. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called Russian President Vladimir Putin his “closest friend” when he greeted him on his birthday.
Yoon’s office reported that key officials from the National Security Office of South Korea, the Ministry of National Defence and the National Intelligence Service attended the Friday security meeting.
The report stated that “[the participants] decided to not ignore the situation and to respond jointly with the international community using the available means.”
The National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) allegation comes just days after Ukrainian military intelligence said that Russia is forming an army of North Koreans.
The BBC has asked for a comment from the NIS.
Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s spy chief, claimed on Thursday that nearly 11,000 North Korean troops were training in eastern Russia for a possible fight in Ukraine.
The Warzone website quoted Lt Gen Budanov as saying that the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence Directorate will be ready to fight on 1 November.
He said that the North Koreans will be using Russian ammunition and equipment. The first group of 2,600 troops will be sent to Russia’s west Kursk region where Ukraine has a number settlements following its August incursion.
Putin introduced a bill earlier this week to ratify the military pact that he made with Kim. The pact promises that Russia and North Korea would help each other if either country were to “aggress” against the other.
The NIS, South Korea’s spy agency said that North Korean troops were training at Russian bases in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk.
This seems to confirm the information given by a Russian military source who told BBC Russian last week that “a few North Koreans” had arrived and were stationed at one of the military base near Ussuriysk.
Seoul’s spy agency released photos of Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk where they claim hundreds of North Korean troops are gathered. Another photo was taken of Chongjin, the port in North Korea, where a Russian vessel is reportedly seen carrying North Korean soldiers.
The NIS reported that it found that North Korea sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying shells and missiles as well as anti-armour missiles to Russia since August.
It said that eight million 122 mm and 152 mm shells were supplied to Russia.
Some military experts, however, believe that the Russian military will have difficulty integrating North Korean troops in their frontlines.
They said that the North Korean army, apart from the language barrier and recent combat operations, has no experience in recent combat operations.
The Ukrainian Defence Express editor, Valeriy Ryabykh said that the Russian units could be freed up to fight elsewhere if they were able to guard certain sections of the Russian-Ukrainian borders.
“I would not rule out the possibility that the units will appear immediately on the front lines.”
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon in Seoul and Hosu Lee
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