South Korea says Pyongyang is reportedly making ready for ‘extra deployment of troopers’ to assist Russia’s struggle efforts.
Greater than 1,000 North Korean troopers have been killed or wounded in Russia’s war with Ukraine, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Workers (JCS) has stated.
The announcement on Monday follows a report by Seoul’s spy company to parliamentarians final week, which stated no less than 100 North Korean troopers had been killed since coming into fight in December.
Pyongyang has despatched hundreds of troopers to bolster the Russian navy, together with to the Kursk border area, the place Ukrainian forces seized territory earlier this 12 months.
“By means of varied sources of data and intelligence, we assess that North Korean troops who’ve not too long ago engaged in fight with Ukrainian forces have suffered round 1,100 casualties,” the JCS stated in an announcement.
Seoul, Washington and Kyiv have stated there are roughly 12,000 North Korean troopers in Russia.
Pyongyang is reportedly “making ready for the rotation or extra deployment of troopers”, the JCS added.
Intelligence additionally means that the nuclear-armed North Korea is “producing and offering self-destructible drones” to Russia to additional help Moscow in its battle in opposition to Ukraine, JCS famous.
North Korea has additionally been accused of providing missiles and artillery shells to Russia.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened their navy ties for the reason that latter invaded Ukraine in February 2022. A landmark defence pact between Pyongyang and Moscow, signed in June, got here into pressure this month.
Consultants say North Korean chief Kim Jong Un is keen to acquire superior expertise from Russia and battle expertise for his troops.
On Thursday, Pyongyang lashed out at what it known as “reckless provocation” by the USA and its allies for a joint assertion criticising North Korea’s help for Russia’s struggle in Ukraine, together with the deployment of troops.
Final month, South Korea and Ukraine additionally introduced that they might deepen safety cooperation in response to the “menace” posed by the deployment of North Korean troops, however there was no point out of potential arms shipments from Seoul to Kyiv.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol stated earlier in November that Seoul was “not ruling out the potential of offering weapons” to Ukraine, which might mark a major shift in its longstanding coverage barring the sale of weapons to international locations in lively battle.
