Seoul: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said there is evidence that North Korea has sent troops to Russia and South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers that 3,000 North Korean troops are in the country receiving training on drones and other equipment before being deployed to battlefields in Ukraine.
Austin told reporters, “What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,” according to a video posted by the Washington Post. If the troops join the war in Ukraine on Russia’s side, it will be “a very, very serious issue,” Austin said, adding it would have an impact in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region.
South Korean intelligence first publicised reports that the Russian navy had taken 1,500 North Korean special warfare troops to Russia last week, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said his government had intelligence that 10,000 North Korea soldiers were being prepared to join the invading Russian forces.
The US and NATO had not previously formally confirmed North Korea’s reported troop dispatch, but have warned of the danger of such a development if true. Russia and North Korea have so far denied the troop movements.
According to lawmaker Park Sunwon, South Korean National Intelligence Service Director, Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers that another 1,500 North Korean troops have entered Russia in a closed-door meeting. He attended the briefing.
Cho told lawmakers that his agency assessed that North Korea aims to deploy a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December, Park told reporters. Park cited Cho as saying the 3,000 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been split among multiple military bases and are in training. Cho told lawmakers that NIS believes they have yet to be deployed in battle, according to Park.
Speaking jointly with Park about the NIS briefing, lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun said that the NIS found that the Russian military is now teaching those North Korean soldiers how to use military equipment such as drones.
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