The allegations made by South Korea were aimed at “damaging the reputation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and undermining legitimate and friendly relations between two sovereign states,” North Korea’s representative said on Monday at a meeting of a UN General Assembly committee in New York . He was alluding to his country’s relations with Russia, which have deepened since the Ukraine war. Russia has also not confirmed reports of a possible deployment of North Korean soldiers to assist in the Ukraine war.
The Russian ambassador summoned by Seoul simply stated that the cooperation between Russia and North Korea was “not directed against South Korean security interests.”
Neither NATO nor the US confirmed the reports, but warned that such a move could mean a potentially dangerous escalation.
“We have seen reports that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has deployed troops and is preparing to send more troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia,” Robert Wood, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Security Council. “If this is true, it represents a dangerous and extremely worrying development,” he added.
South Korean intelligence reported on Friday that 1,500 North Korean soldiers had been transferred to Russia. Accordingly, they will complete training in eastern Russia and will then be sent to the front in Ukraine.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap had previously reported, citing intelligence, that Pyongyang wanted to send a total of “four brigades with 12,000 soldiers, including special forces” to the front in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyj also spoke about this at the EU summit in Brussels.
North Korea and Russia have expanded their military relations in recent years. According to experts, Russia is using, among other things, North Korean missiles in Ukraine, which both sides deny.