North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un watches an artillery firing drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea, 7 March 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / KCNA
South Korea is considering deploying a team of military personnel to Ukraine to monitor the activities of North Korean troops Pyongyang has sent to support Russia’s war effort, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Tuesday, citing a government source.
According to Yonhap, the team would be composed of military intelligence officers trained in battlefield tactic analysis and who would also be able to take part in the interrogation of captured North Korean soldiers.
The Seoul government is also considering providing weapons to Ukraine, marking a potentially significant shift in policy, Yonhap continued. “While watching signs of North Korea-Russia military cooperation, response measures will be taken in steps,” one source said.
Citing South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), Yonhap reported on Friday that North Korea was preparing to send 12,000 troops to bolster the Russian military’s war effort in Ukraine.
The NIS said that Pyongyang had decided to send four brigades comprising 12,000 soldiers in total, including special forces, which would mark North Korea’s first large-scale deployment of ground forces beyond its borders, Yonhap said.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move the “first step to a world war”, North Korea dismissed the accusations as “groundless rumours,” and stressed that its relations with Moscow were “legitimate and cooperative,” according to Yonhap.
