North Korea sent 3,000 more troops to Russia, according to South’s assessment
Russia and Ukraine recently agreed on a limited ceasefire, though both sides have accused each other of violations.
North Korea sent around 3,000 additional troops to Russia in January and February in continued support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, South Korea’s military said in its latest assessment.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday that North Korea has also been sending more missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition to help Russia and that North Korea could increase its weapons supplies further depending on the war situation.
Russia and Ukraine recently agreed on a limited ceasefire, though both sides have accused each other of violations.
The military equipment North Korea has sent to Russia includes a “considerable amount” of short-range ballistic missiles, 170 millimetre self-propelled howitzers and around 220 units of 240 millimetre multiple rocket launchers.
North Korea has sent approximately 11,000 military personnel to fight in the war against Ukraine in its first involvement in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Joint Chiefs assessed that around 4,000 of them have been killed or injured.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service previously attributed the high North Korean casualties to the troops’ likely struggles in adapting to drones and other elements of modern warfare.
North Korean troops are further disadvantaged by the crude tactics of their Russian commanders, who have sent them into assault campaigns without providing rear-fire support, the spy agency told lawmakers in January.
Still, Ukrainian military and intelligence officials have assessed that the North Koreans are gaining crucial battlefield experience and have been key to Russia’s strategy of overwhelming Ukraine by throwing large numbers of soldiers into the battle for Kursk.
The South Korean military report came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his unwavering support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during a meeting with a top Russian security official, Sergei Shoigu, last week in Pyongyang.
State media reports said Mr Kim and Mr Shoigu reaffirmed their commitment to uphold a major mutual defence treaty agreed upon last year.
Russian deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko told Russian media on Thursday that the governments were discussing a potential visit by Mr Kim to Moscow but did not specify when it might take place.
“We always talk to everyone about exchanging visits. We are always preparing,” he told RIA Novosti.
