South Korean intelligence has obtained information that North Korea has recently decided to send four brigades of 12,000 soldiers, including special forces, to fight for Russia in Ukraine, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
"The movement of North Korean troops has already begun," a South Korean intelligence source said.
On October 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had intelligence that North Korea was training 10,000 soldiers to support Russia.
He suggested that Russia is relying on North Korean troops to make up for its significant losses as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yol called an emergency meeting on security issues over the move by Pyongyang.
The meeting was told that the close military ties between Russia and North Korea had moved "beyond the transfer of military supplies to the actual deployment of troops."
"This development poses a significant threat to the security not only of our country but also of the international community," the presidential office said.
Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea's founding after World War II and have grown even closer since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Seoul and Washington have long alleged that Kim Jong-un sent weapons for use in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, and the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that six North Korean military personnel were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk on October 3. | BGNES
