Seoul: North Korea is expected to deploy additional troops to aid Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine by July or August, as revealed by South Korea's intelligence agency to lawmakers on Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) presented this assessment during a confidential briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee. The announcement follows reports from Russian media indicating that North Korea plans to dispatch 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia's Kursk region, suggesting increased military cooperation between the two nations.
Lawmakers Rep. Park Sun-won of the Democratic Party and Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the People Power Party, who attended the briefing, disclosed to reporters that North Korea seems to have initiated the recruitment process for this deployment. This development comes after a recent visit by Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu to Pyongyang, where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. During this visit, Russian media reported Pyongyang's intention to send military construction workers to the Kursk front line.
The NIS further highlighted that North Korea has been supporting Russia by supplying over 10 million artillery shells, missiles, and long-range weapons. In return, North Korea receives economic cooperation and technical support from Moscow.