North Korean troops in Russia readying for combat in Ukraine war, South Korea says

Seoul will respond to the ‘grave security threat’ with all available means, the presidential office said in a statement

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspect the headquarters of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People’s Army. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA

Published: 5:51pm, 18 Oct 2024Updated: 7:30pm, 18 Oct 2024

North Korea has shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatising at local military bases and is likely to be deployed for combat in the war in Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency said on Friday.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) also said it had been working with Ukrainian intelligence service and had used facial recognition artificial intelligence technology to identify North Korean officers in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region supporting Russian forces firing North Korean missiles.

In more than 13,000 containers, North Korea has shipped artillery rounds, ballistic missiles and anti-tank rockets to Russia since August last year, the agency said, based on the remnants of weapons recovered from the battle front in Ukraine.

In all, more than eight million artillery and rocket rounds have been shipped to Russia, it said.

A handout from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service shows a satellite image by Airbus Defence and Space of Russia’s Khabarovsk military facility, where the intelligence service said North Korean personnel gathered within the training ground. Photo: AFP/Airbus Defence and Space via NIS

“The direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea that has been reported by foreign media has now been officially confirmed,” the spy agency said in a statement.