South Korea has said it is considering sending a military team to Ukraine to monitor the expected deployment of North Korean troops on the frontlines by Russia.
North Korea has sent some 11,000 soldiers to Russia and over 3,000 of them have been moved close to the frontlines, Reuters quoted an unnamed South Korean official as saying.
The official said North Korea will gain military knowledge from its troops helping the Russian war effort which poses a military threat to South Korea. “So it is incumbent upon us to analyse and monitor the activities of North Korean troops against our ally, Ukraine,” the official added.
South Korea’s spy agency said last week the North has deployed 3,000 soldiers to Russia’s far east for training, with plans to send 12,000 troops in total.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said the North has sent 10,000 troops to its ally and some of them are reportedly heading to Kursk to join Russian forces in fighting the Ukraine invasion of the border region.
This came barely hours after NATO secretary general Mark Rutte said that North Korean military units were already in Kursk.
“Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Mr Rutte said.
The deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk is “also a sign of Putin’s growing desperation”, he added, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol said the deployment of the North Korean troop has been quicker than expected and caused a dangerous situation, his office reported, relaying remarks made during a phone call with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Mr Trudeau said the deployment of North Korean troops is likely to escalate the conflict and greatly impact the security situation in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region, according to Mr Yoon’s office.
North Korean soldiers are being incorporated into Russian military units and given Russian uniforms to try to hide their identities, South Korea’s presidential official said, adding that issues like language barriers may be slowing their entry into battle.
South Korea and the US have raised alarm over North Korea sending troops to join the Russian war in Ukraine, likely in return for technology that could advance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes.
Russia and North Korea initially denied these allegations but later adopted a vaguer stance, stating that their military cooperation conforms with international law.
Mr Putin sidestepped questions about the North deploying troops, saying: “This is our sovereign decision.”
“Whether we use it or not, where, how, or whether we engage in exercises, training, or transfer some experience. It’s our business,” he told reporters.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that North Korean officers and technical personnel have been spotted in Russian-occupied territories but did not specify when.
“I believe they sent officers first to assess the situation before deploying troops,” Mr Zelensky said, warning that the participation of a third country could escalate the conflict into a world war.
Mr Zelensky also claimed, without providing details, that his government has intelligence that around 10,000 soldiers from North Korea are being prepared to join the Russian forces fighting in his country.
