N. Korea sent 1,500 more troops to Russia

Seoul spy agency tells lawmakers

FE Team | Published: October 24, 2024 00:11:14

SEOUL, Oct 23 (AFP): North Korea has sent 1,500 more soldiers to Russia, Seoul's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, with 10,000 troops expected to be deployed by December.
The latest deployment brings the number of Pyongyang's troops in Russia to 3,000, lawmaker Park Sun-won said, after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service.
"An additional 1,500 troops are believed to have been deployed to Russia... so approximately 3,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to have been deployed to Russia so far," Park, who sits on parliament's intelligence committee, told reporters.
"The planned deployment of about 10,000 troops from North Korea to Russia is expected to have occurred by December," he added.
Seoul's spy agency last week said Pyongyang had decided to send a "large-scale" troop deployment to Russia to fight against Ukraine, cementing Pyongyang's contentious military alliance with Moscow.
North Korean state media has not commented on the purported troop deployment, which Russia has also not confirmed.
South Korea has long claimed the nuclear-armed North is supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, and Seoul expressed alarm over the troop deployment, which comes after Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military deal in June.
Another lawmaker said rumours were spreading within the tightly controlled North that the elite "Storm Corps" had been sent to Russia.
"Additionally, there are reports circulating that the families of the deployed soldiers were so much in grief that their excessive crying has visibly affected their faces," lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.
"In response, North Korean authorities are said to be strictly controlling information, and there are indications that they are relocating and isolating the families of the deployed soldiers in undisclosed locations to better manage and control them."