North Korean troops are already dying for Russia in the Ukraine war — with some 10,000 troops already shipped out to aid in the invasion, according to reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing for a full-scale push to seize more land this autumn, which is expected to include the aid of North Korean soldiers.
Officials claim North Koreans have been spotted on the frontlines in recent weeks, with 10,000 Pyongyang troops already in Russia to assist the war effort, a Western diplomat familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent.
A military source in Russia confirmed with the BBC on Wednesday that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” at military bases near Ussuriysk in far eastern Russia near the Chinese border, but put the total number at far below 3,000.
The claims have yet to be independently verified, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov slamming the reports as “fake news.”
Zelensky had warned of this outcome after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in June to sign a new partnership that included a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked.
Kyiv said Russia’s alliance with North Korea has only grown stronger, with Kim no longer restricting his business with the Kremlin to weapons trade.
“This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces,” Zelensky said in a statement Sunday.
Zelensky’s latest warning comes after South Korea Defense Ministry Kim Yong-hyun said his nation was closely monitoring the war as its intelligence pointed to the likelihood that North Korean soldiers are dying on the front lines.
Yong-hyun estimated that at least six North Korean soldiers were killed by Ukrainian missile strikes in Donetsk, a report that the US said was worrying.
“We are concerned by the reports of DPRK soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“If that’s true, it would mark a significant increase in the relationship between those two countries, the relationship that you have seen develop over the past several months,” he added. “It would also indicate a new level of desperation by Russia as it continues to suffer significant casualties.”
Along with the warning of foreign fighters in the conflict, Zelesnky told Ukrainian lawmakers on Wednesday that North Korea was also sending factory workers to Russia to replace employees drafted in the war.
