"North Korea preparing to send up to 30,000 additional troops to Russia"

CNN, citing Ukrainian intelligence

North Korea to increase almost threefold from last time

National Intelligence Service also says "Troop deployments observed between July and August"

CNN reported on the 2nd, citing Ukrainian intelligence authorities, that North Korea is preparing to dispatch up to 30,000 additional troops to Russia.

According to the report, Ukrainian intelligence has identified that North Korea intends to send between 25,000 and 30,000 additional troops to Russia within a few months. This is more than twice the scale of the troops (about 11,000) that North Korea initially sent to the Kursk region of Russia last October. At that time, North Korea supported troops based on a mutual defense treaty under the pretext of recapturing the Kursk region, which had been seized by Ukrainian forces. This time, however, it is reported that they are highly likely to be deployed to the frontlines in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

CNN also reported that, according to satellite images, Russian Ropucha-class landing ships used for transporting North Korean troops last year were observed docking again at the Dunay port in Russia’s Far East as of May this year. Joe Byrne, a Senior Analyst at the Open Source Center, told CNN, "The route used last year to transfer the North Korean military to Russia could again be used for massive personnel movements."

When Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, visited North Korea on the 17th of last month, it became known that North Korea agreed to send 1,000 engineers and 5,000 military construction personnel to the Kursk region for reconstruction efforts. After Shoigu’s visit, the National Intelligence Service predicted through the National Assembly Intelligence Committee and others that North Korea’s additional troop deployment to Russia could occur as early as July or August.

Reporter Da-yeon Lim allopen@hankyung.com