North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia to support it in its war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said today, based on a from the South Korean intelligence information, reported Reuters and AFP.
According to the new data, the number of military personnel is twice as large as previously reported by South Korean intelligence.
„A further 1,500 soldiers are believed to have been deployed in Russia, bringing the total to 3,000, said lawmaker Park Soon-won, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee.
Pyongyang has pledged to provide a total of 10,000 troops, with the deployment expected to end in December, lawmakers said.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied claims, including by Kiev, of North Korean soldiers taking to the battlefields.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday called on his allies to respond to evidence of North Korean meddling in the war.
Earlier this week, a senior US diplomat said Washington was consulting its allies about the implications of North Korean intervention, adding that it “would be a dangerous and deeply concerning development” if confirmed.
On Friday, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said North Korea had sent about 1,500 troops to Russia by ship.
Meanwhile, the German government today summoned the North Korean chargé d'affaires in Berlin to discuss with him the growing concern over the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Ukraine, the Federal Republic's foreign ministry said, as quoted by Reuters.
"If the reports about North Korean soldiers in Ukraine turn out to be true and that North Korea is now supporting Russian aggression in Russia with troops, this would be something serious and contrary to international law," the foreign ministry said on the social network X ; and added that North Korean support for Russia threatens the security of Germany and peace in Europe.