SEOUL (Reuters): North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support the Kremlin’s forces in its war in Ukraine and thousands more were expected to follow, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday.
Pyongyang had promised to provide a total of about 10,000 troops, whose deployment was expected to be completed by December, the lawmakers told reporters after being briefed by South Korea’s national intelligence agency.
The estimate is twice the previous figure thought.
“Signs of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October,” Park Sun-won, a member of a parliamentary intelligence committee, said after the briefing.
“It appears that the troops have now been dispersed to multiple training facilities in Russia and are adapting to the local environment.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday there was evidence that North Korean troops were in Russia, though it remained to be seen what they would be doing there.
Austin, speaking in Rome, said the alleged North Korean deployment could be further evidence that the Russian military was having problems over manpower in its war against Ukraine.
The conflict broke out when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022 and has since developed into a war of attrition largely fought along front lines in eastern Ukraine with huge numbers of casualties on both sides.
Comments are closed.