Reports: 1,500 more North Korean troops sent to Russia

North Korea has sent an additional 1,500 troops to Russia, with the number expected to reach 10,000 by December, South Korea’s intelligence agencies told the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“An additional 1,500 troops are believed to have been sent to Russia,” Park Sung-won, a member of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, said after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service, bringing the total to 3,000.

North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia to help it in the war in Ukraine, calling the reports “groundless rumors.”

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday that Seoul is considering sending a delegation of military and intelligence agencies to Ukraine to monitor the North’s troop deployment, according to government sources.

“If North Korea can interfere in the war in Europe, pressuring this regime is definitely not enough,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message.

He warned that such an expansion of Russian warfare must be stopped, adding: “It is clear that Pyongyang, like Moscow, does not care about people and does not respect human life.” Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement last June, which also includes mutual assistance in the event of an attack on either country.