North Korea has begun sending troops to fight Russia in Ukraine, South Korea’s intelligence agency said, as Seoul warned of a “major security threat”.
The allegations come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed 10,000 North Korean troops could join the war, based on intelligence information.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a security meeting on Friday and said the international community must respond by all means available.
According to the intelligence agency, 1,500 soldiers have arrived in Russia – anonymous sources told South Korean media that the final figure could be closer to 12,000.
This comes as evidence mounts that North Korea is supplying Russia with ammunition, as seen recently with the discovery of a missile in the Ukrainian region of Poltava.
Moscow and Pyongyang have also been deepening their cooperation in recent months. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday, calling him “his best friend”.
Friday’s security meeting was attended by key officials from South Korea’s National Security Office, Ministry of National Defense, and National Intelligence Service, Yoon’s office said.
“[The participants] we decided to ignore this situation and respond to it jointly with the international community using all available means,” he said.
The National Intelligence Service’s allegations come days after Ukrainian military intelligence sources said Russian troops were forming an army of North Koreans.
The BBC has contacted the NIS for comment.
Earlier this week, Putin introduced a bill to ratify the military agreement he made with Kim, which promises that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.
South Korea’s spy agency, the NIS, said North Korean soldiers are training at Russian bases in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vladoveshensk.
This appears to confirm information from a military source in Russia’s Far East, who told BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were being held at one of the military bases near Ussuriysk.
Seoul’s intelligence agency also released aerial photos of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, where it said hundreds of North Korean soldiers had gathered, and another photo of the North Korean port of Chongjin, where a Russian ship was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.
The NIS said it found that since August, North Korea has sent 13,000 containers of shells, missiles and anti-armor rockets to Russia.
About eight million 122-mm and 152-mm shells have been delivered to Russia, he said.
However, some military experts believe that the Russian military will have a hard time getting North Korean troops into their ranks.
Besides the language barrier, the North Korean army has no recent combat experience, they said.
“They can guard certain parts of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would free up Russian units to fight elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, editor of the Ukrainian publication Defense Express.
“I would say that it is possible that these units will come forward quickly.”
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee in Seoul
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