There is growing intelligence that North Korea has been readying itself for a more direct role in Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, a move that could reverberate far beyond the frontlines of the war raging in Europe. <\/p>\n
Both Ukraine and South Korea have claimed that North Korean troops were dispatched to Russia for training with the aim of being deployed to <\/strong>Ukraine. <\/p>\n Russia and North Korea have denied the reports, while South Korea has hinted that any deployment could cause it to reassess what level of military support it gives Ukraine. <\/p>\n In recent months, Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened their anti-United States military partnership and the growing alliance has concerned officials in Kyiv and Washington. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know. <\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned that North Korean troops are joining Russia\u2019s war, telling a NATO summit last week that \u201c10,000\u201d soldiers and technical personnel were being prepared. <\/p>\n On Tuesday, the president said <\/strong>in his evening address that <\/strong>Ukraine had intelligence about Russia <\/strong>\u201ctraining two military units from North Korea\u201d involving perhaps \u201ctwo brigades of 6,000 people each.\u201d Zelensky also told reporters that Ukraine has seen North Korean \u201cofficers and technical staff in the temporarily occupied territories\u201d and believes Russia is \u201cpreparing a grouping\u201d to enter Ukraine. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, South Korea\u2019s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said Friday that North Korea has shipped 1,500 soldiers, including special forces fighters, to Russia for training. <\/p>\n Russia and North Korea, both pariahs in the West, have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow\u2019s invasion. <\/p>\n In June, the two nations signed a landmark defense pact and pledged to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event the other is attacked. <\/p>\n Multiple governments have accused Pyongyang of supplying arms to Moscow for its grinding war in Ukraine, a charge both countries have denied, despite significant evidence of such transfers. <\/p>\n The arms shipments, which include thousands of metric tons of munitions, have helped Russia replenish its dwindling stockpiles in a war where Ukraine\u2019s forces have long been outgunned and outmanned. Meanwhile, cash-strapped North Korea is believed to have received food and other necessities in exchange. <\/p>\n The hermit <\/strong>nation also seeks to advance its space, missile and illegal nuclear programs. <\/p>\n Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the allegations that North Korean personnel had been sent to help Russia as \u201canother hoax.\u201d <\/p>\n When asked directly by reporters on Monday whether Moscow was sending North Korean troops to fight in Ukraine, Peskov said that North Korea is a \u201cclose neighbor\u201d and the two states were \u201cdeveloping relations in all areas.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThis cooperation is not directed against third countries,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n North Korea called the claims \u201cgroundless, stereotyped rumors,\u201d during a UN General Assembly meeting <\/strong>Monday. <\/p>\n But Seoul is not taking this lightly. <\/p>\n On Monday, its Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and urged an \u201cimmediate withdrawal of North Korean troops.\u201d <\/p>\n South Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hong-kyun warned the alleged deployment violates UN Security Council resolutions. The National Security Office held an emergency meeting to discuss a possible South Korean response. <\/p>\n Following the meeting, Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of national security, said the government would implement \u201cphased countermeasures\u201d according to the \u201cprogress of the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.\u201d <\/p>\n It is unclear what the measures would be, but a South Korean government official said that they are preparing \u201cdiplomatic, economic and military measures.\u201d <\/p>\n As North Korea is in the \u201cpreliminary stage of deploying troops to Russia,\u201d South Korea is assessing whether it will proceed to \u201cactual combat participation,\u201d the government official added. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are developing scenarios to understand the potential impacts North Korea and Russia\u2019s actions could have on us,\u201d the government official said. <\/p>\n Seoul, one of the world\u2019s largest arms suppliers, has provided humanitarian aid and financial support to Ukraine, while joining Western sanctions against Moscow. But it has has not directly provided lethal weapons to Kyiv due to arms export controls to countries at war. <\/p>\n The stakes are high. <\/p>\n North and South Korea are separated by one of the world\u2019s most militarized borders and remain technically in a state of war. Relations between the two have deteriorated in recent years with an uptick in fiery rhetoric on both sides of the demilitarized zone. <\/p>\n The US has not publicly confirmed the North Korean <\/strong>troop deployment, saying it is \u201ccontinuing to look into the reports.\u201d A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that if true, \u201cit certainly would mark a dangerous and highly concerning development\u201d and that the US would continue to consult with its allies \u201con the implications of such a dramatic move.\u201d <\/p>\n But British Defense Minister John Healey told Parliament Tuesday \u201cit is now highly likely that the transfer of hundreds of combat troops from North Korea to Russia has begun.\u201d <\/p>\n Any intervention by North Korea could be a watershed moment. The isolated and heavily sanctioned regime taking a role in a major international conflict on the other side of the world is <\/strong>something it has not done in decades. <\/p>\n The state has one of the largest militaries in the world, with 1.2 million soldiers, but many of its troops lack combat experience. <\/p>\n Analysts say the North Korean regime <\/strong>would have a lot to gain from deploying troops, including <\/strong>giving its forces <\/strong>battlefield experience and technical training. The arrangement could also help North Korea gain real-world intelligence on the functioning of its weaponry. <\/p>\n \u201cThe special forces troops will come back with live battlefield experience, live infiltration experience against an alerted combat opponent. That makes them more dangerous,\u201d said Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the US Pacific Command\u2019s Joint Intelligence Center. <\/p>\n \u201cI think Kim is providing the troops to gain the resources he needs to sustain the regime, and lessons learned that he might apply if he thinks the conflict is coming in the peninsula,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n Those deployed would be special \u201celite\u201d forces rather than conventional troops, analysts say. <\/p>\n \u201cIf they succeed there, they will get not only firsthand battle experience, but international recognition. So, this could be a real serious problem for the entire world,\u201d Chun said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat if the North Koreans make this a habit? What if they become a base for supplying well-trained soldiers? The potential of this deployment should be very concerning.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is growing intelligence that North Korea has been readying itself for a more direct…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Are North Koreans in Ukraine?<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s North Korea\u2019s relationship with Russia?<\/h2>\n
What has the reaction been?<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s the significance?<\/h2>\n