SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. If confirmed, the move would bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West.
The South Korean announcement came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has intelligence that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against his country.
The National Intelligence Service said in a statement that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from Oct. 8 to Oct. 13. It said more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia soon.
The North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have been given Russian military uniforms, weapons and forged identification documents, the NIS said. It said they are currently staying at military bases in Vladivostok and other Russian sites such as Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, and that they will likely be deployed to battle grounds after completing their adaptation training.
The NIS posted on its website satellite and other photos showing what it calls Russian navy ship movements near a North Korean port and suspected North Korean mass gatherings in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk in the past week.
South Korean media, citing the NIS, reported that North Korea has decided to dispatch a total of 12,000 troops formed into four brigades to Russia. The NIS said it could not confirm the reports.
The NIS has a mixed record in finding developments in North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive countries. If confirmed, the move would be North Korea’s first major participation in a foreign war. North Korea has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest standing militaries in the world, but it hasn’t fought in large-scale conflicts following the 1950-53 Korean War.
Asked about the NIS finding, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said “At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort, but that may change.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday that the U.S. couldn’t confirm or corroborate media reports on the North Korean troop dispatch to Russia.
Russia has earlier denied using North Korean…