South Korea’s spy agency also told lawmakers in South Korea on Wednesday that some 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia, now receiving training on drones and other equipment before being deployed to the battlefield in Ukraine.
“What exactly are they doing? It remains to be seen. These are the things we have to clarify,” Austin told reporters Wednesday.
If troops join the Ukrainian war on the Russian side, Austin said, it will be “a very, very serious matter,” and would have an impact on Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.
The National Intelligence Service said last week it had confirmed that North Korea had sent 1,500 special forces troops to Russia this month, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said his government had information that it was being carried out. preparing 10,000 North Korean soldiers to join the invading Russian forces.
The United States and NATO had not officially confirmed the alleged movement of North Korean troops, although they had warned of the risk it would entail. Russia and North Korea have so far rejected troop movements.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has discovered that North Korea sent another 1,500 troops to Russia, the service’s director, Cho Tae-yong, said in a closed-door meeting with a parliamentary committee, according to lawmakers. Park Sunwon and Lee Seong Kweun, who attended the meeting.
Cho said Pyongyang plans to send a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December, according to statements cited by Park.
Park added that according to Cho, the 3,000 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been spread across several military bases and are undergoing training. Cho told parliamentarians that his agency believes they have not yet entered into battle.
In joint remarks with Park about the meeting, lawmaker Lee Soing Kweun said the intelligence service had discovered that Russian forces are teaching those North Korean soldiers to use military equipment such as drones.
Russian instructors have a good opinion of the morale and physical condition of North Korean soldiers, Cho said, but believe they will suffer heavy casualties because they lack knowledge of modern warfare. Lee, who quoted Cho, said Russia is recruiting many translators.
Lee said the South Korean agency has detected signs that North Korea is relocating relatives of soldiers chosen to go to Russia for isolation.
North Korea has not revealed the deployment to its population, Cho noted at the meeting, although there are rumors that the news is spreading among people, including those close to the people sent to Russia, Lee said.
The head of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, told military news outlet The War Zone that North Korean soldiers would arrive in Russia’s Kursk region on Wednesday to help Russian troops fighting a Ukrainian incursion.
North Korea and Russia, which have different confrontations with the West, have drastically increased their cooperation in the last two years. In June they signed a major defense agreement that required both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either was attacked.
South Korea’s spy service said last week that Pyongyang had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling arsenals.
South Korea said on Tuesday it would consider providing weapons to Ukraine in response to the alleged deployment of North Korean troops. Seoul has sent humanitarian and financial aid to kyiv. But it has avoided providing weapons directly to Ukraine, complying with its policy of not providing weapons to countries embroiled in active conflicts.
1,500 soldiers
North Korea has sent 1,500 more troops to Russia, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Wednesday, with a total of 10,000 expected to be deployed to the country in December.
“We estimate that 1,500 additional troops were deployed to Russia,” bringing the number to around 3,000 troops currently in the country, said lawmaker Park Sun-won, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, after a meeting with the National Intelligence Service (NIS). ).
He added that “the planned deployment of some 10,000 North Korean soldiers should be completed by December.”
South Korea’s spy agency reported last week that Pyongyang had decided to send “large-scale” troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, cementing its alliance with Moscow.
The North Korean state press has not commented on the alleged sending of troops, which Russia has not confirmed either.
South Korea has insisted that the North supplies weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.
The alleged sending of soldiers comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a military agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.
For its part, Germany announced on Wednesday that it had summoned the North Korean ambassador over Pyongyang’s support for Russia, and warned him against sending soldiers.
Ukrainian media on Tuesday quoted President Volodymyr Zelensky as saying that two North Korean brigades, with up to 6,000 troops each, would receive training in Russia.
Also on Tuesday, the Russian channel Astra released videos on Telegram purportedly showing Russian and North Korean soldiers, with audio captures of phrases such as “I’m tired” or “we’re late” pronounced in a North Korean accent.
