Seoul: North Korea is sending around 12,000 soldiers to Russia to fight alongside Moscow’s troops in the Ukraine war, South Korean agency Yonhap has reported citing intelligence reports.
Yonhap reported, citing the National Intelligence Service (NIS), that North Korean troops have already left the country. However, the NIS has not immediately confirmed the report.
South Korea’s presidential office issued a statement saying that President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over an emergency meeting earlier on Friday to discuss North Korea’s troop deployment to Ukraine. The office’s public affairs department has yet to confirm whether South Korea has officially verified the deployment of North Korean troops.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) did not immediately confirm the report, but South Korea’s presidential office stated that President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over an emergency meeting earlier on Friday to discuss North Korea’s troop deployment to Ukraine. According to the statement, participants in the meeting agreed that North Korea’s dispatch of troops represents a significant security threat to both South Korea and the international community.
However, the presidential office did not provide further details, such as the number of North Korean soldiers sent to Ukraine or the specific roles they are expected to play.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that six North Koreans were among those killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region on October 3.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that his government has intelligence indicating that 10,000 North Korean troops are being prepared to join Russian forces in the conflict against Ukraine. He warned that the involvement of a third nation in the hostilities could escalate the situation into a “world war.”
