Zelensky’s alerts are now coupled with information transmitted by South Korean intelligence. According to Seoul, North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia to support Moscow in its war launched against Ukraine in February 2022. The alliance between the two countries has only strengthened in recent years, and even more so in recent month.
For kyiv, it is obvious that Kim Jong-un’s support for Vladimir Putin no longer involves only military equipment but also men. Support deemed “very worrying” by Paris.
What are the Korean and Ukrainian authorities saying?
On October 10, during a parliamentary hearing, the South Korean Minister of Defense considered the next deployment of regular North Korean troops on the Ukrainian front “very likely”. A few days later, Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed for his part that North Korea was supplying soldiers to Russia. He described a “growing alliance” between Moscow and Pyongyang, which no longer only involves “the transfer of weapons” but also “the sending of people”.
This Friday, it was South Korean intelligence which provided more precise information in this direction. According to them, soldiers have already arrived in eastern Russia – in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk – as the first step before going to the Ukrainian front. Others should still follow.
This Friday, the NATO Secretary General clarified that the Alliance could not confirm “at this stage” the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia. “But of course that can change,” said Mark Rutte. The Kremlin has always denied these accusations.
When will they arrive?
According to South Korea, the first soldiers were seen aboard a Russian navy transport ship between October 8 and 13 and are therefore already in Russia. “A second transport operation is expected to take place shortly,” the South Korean national intelligence service added. Before being “deployed to the front lines”, they will first carry out “acclimatization training”, the duration of which has not been revealed.
But according to kyiv, “tactical personnel and officers” could already be on Ukrainian territory. Already ten days ago, a Ukrainian media outlet reported that six North Korean officers had died in a missile attack near Donetsk, a territory in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia. Information that the South Korean Minister of Defense considered “very probable”.
How many soldiers will be sent?
This Friday, South Korean intelligence services announced that a first contingent of 1,500 North Korean special forces soldiers was already in Russia. A figure which should increase: the same source, cited by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, mentions a total of 12,000 soldiers, not all of whom are part of the special forces.
Volodymyr Zelensky said, for his part, that he had information according to which North Korea is training 10,000 soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a special visit to Pyongyang in June this year, during which the two countries signed a mutual defense agreement, the details of which had not been disclosed.
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