North Korea appears to have sent more troops to Russia despite the serious injuries that its soldiers are fighting on the frontlines of Ukraine, South Korea's major spy agency said Thursday.
Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it was trying to grasp the number of additional troops North Korea has deployed to Russia, according to a short statement.
South Korean institutions also assessed that North Korean troops had been redeployed on the front of Russia's Kursk region earlier this month after reports of temporary withdrawal from the region.
The US first revealed in October that Pyongyang would send a force of around 10,000 people to train in Russia, and will eventually be used on the battlefield.
The development marked a new milestone in North Korea's support for the Russian war, as Pyongyang had already provided Moscow with large shipments of ammunition, missiles and other weapons to Moscow since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The forces reportedly trained at military bases in Russia and then attempted to reclaim territory that had been sent to the Kursk region to be handed over to Ukraine to fight alongside the Kremlin forces.
However, North Korean soldiers appeared to be severely doomed in the battle, and in late December the White House said they were rapidly injured. Over 1,000 people have been killed or injured in just one week.
The loss forced North Korean forces to be pulled back from the frontline in January, Ukrainians and US officials said at the time.
But earlier this month, Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelensky said Pyongyang's troops have returned to the frontline, a reputation backed by the NIS.
“After a month's lull, North Korean forces have been brought back to Kursk's frontline from the first week of February,” the spy agency said Thursday.
The announcement follows a report from South Korean newspaper Joongang, which stated that North Korea has sent up to 3,000 additional troops through ships and military cargo planes since January.Associated Press.
Officials and experts speculate in exchange for soldiers that North Korean leader Kim Jong is a valuable international ally for the isolated country, as well as Russian technology to upgrade its nuclear weapons programmes.
Vowing to end the war in Ukraine, President Trump once sought diplomatic relations with North Korea, but such talks fell apart during his first presidency. Since taking office in his second term, Trump has hinted at reopening the door to diplomacy with Kim.
