by Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's military said on Monday it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, in support of Russia in the of the conflict with Ukraine.
According to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), North Korea has already supplied Russia with 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers. Pyongyang is also on track to produce more suicide drones for Russia since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a test of the drones last month, the JCS added.
“Suicide drones are one of the tasks that Kim Jong Un has focused on,” a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.
These drones have been widely used in the war in Ukraine, and Kim Jong-un has ordered mass production of these weapons as well as an update of the country's military doctrine, in light of intensifying global competition, state media reported.
According to South Korean, American and Ukrainian authorities, some 12,000 North Korean soldiers are now deployed in Russia. The JCS said at least 1,100 of them were killed or injured, a figure that corroborates a report released last week by the South Korean intelligence agency, which put around 100 dead and of a thousand injured in the Russian region of Kursk.
Strengthening military ties between North Korea and Russia could allow Pyongyang to modernize its conventional forces and gain combat experience, creating a new threat to South Korea, the JCS official said.
Along the heavily fortified Korean border, North Korea has installed barriers and barbed wire in recent weeks and deployed up to 10,000 troops to change the situation in the area, the JCS detailed.
The JCS released photos showing a group of North Korean soldiers testing the electrified wire fence using a goat.
It is also possible that Pyongyang will conduct an intermediate-range hypersonic missile test towards the end of the year, before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, the JCS added.
“With Russia's support, North Korea will likely attempt to stage various strategic provocations next year, such as the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles and a nuclear test, in order to strengthen its negotiating capacity with the United States “said the JCS official.
(Reportage by Hyonhee Shin, French version by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
