According to the South Korean Defense Minister, North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Ukraine to fight alongside Russian forces. Their presumed deaths reveal increasingly close relations between North Korea and Russia, heightening global concerns over the spread of the conflict.
Ukraine: North Korean troops
The war in Ukraine could see a new actor enter the scene: North Korea. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said several North Korean soldiers were believed to have been killed at the front after being sent to Ukraine to support Russia. The claim reinforced a Ukrainian media report claiming that six North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike near Donetsk, a territory controlled by Russia.
This revelation highlights a new phase in military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. According to Seoul, this involvement could be a prelude to sending more North Korean troops, as Russia struggles to maintain its forces on the front. These suspicions are fueled by defense agreements between the two countries, which could signal a strategic alliance between the regimes of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.
An increasingly visible military collaboration
North Korea didn’t just send soldiers to Ukraine. Pyongyang is also accused of supplying weapons to Russia for its war effort. In recent months, North Korean missiles and other military equipment have reportedly been used by Russian troops in Ukraine. Although the Russian and North Korean governments deny the accusations, independent reports and South Korean sources claim otherwise.
The scale of this cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang appears to be growing. Last June, Vladimir Putin visited North Korea to conclude a mutual defense pact with Kim Jong Un. This marks a turning point in relations between the two nations, formerly limited, but today strengthened by common interests in the face of the West. Such rapprochement, particularly on a military level, fuels speculation about the possibility of increased support from North Korea to Russia, both in terms of military hardware and manpower on the ground.
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