On October 27, Ukrainian authorities announced that they had detected signs of North Korean troops being transported to the frontlines in Russia using civilian vehicles. Ukrainian officials believe that these troops may be deployed as early as October 28 to the Russian city of Kursk, a hotspot for intense battles.
There is speculation that the soldiers being transported could be new recruits in their teens or early twenties, rather than elite special forces.
The Kyiv Independent reported that Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) has been tracking the movement of North Korean troops towards Russia’s Kursk region. Located in southwestern Russia, Kursk has been a frontline area where Ukrainian forces have been engaging Russian troops since reclaiming part of the region on August 6.
The HUR released intercepted communications recorded on the Kursk-Vonoreisky highway, revealing that trucks with civilian license plates, lacking the necessary documentation for combat missions, were stopped by military police.
The recordings captured a conversation among Russian military officials, stating, “The driver has already handled the situation. He is helping transport North Koreans.” Based on this, HUR concluded that North Korean soldiers are heading to Russian military units in Kursk.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had announced that Russia would deploy North Korean troops to the combat zone on October 27-28, and the intercepted conversations appear to corroborate this statement.
On the same day, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that North Korean soldiers had already arrived at the frontlines in Kursk. Notably, the WSJ highlighted videos and statements from U.S. officials indicating that the North Korean troops gathered in Kursk appear to be young recruits in their teens and early twenties.
The WSJ suggested that many of these fresh-faced soldiers might never have left North Korea before and are operating outdated conventional military equipment.
Initially, South Korean and Ukrainian authorities estimated that North Korea would dispatch around 12,000 troops, including members of the elite “Storm Corps” (11th Corps). However, on October 24, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun took a different stance, calling them “simple cannon fodder mercenaries.”
James JB Park, a Kelly Fellow at the Pacific Forum and former South Korean defense official, suggests that Kim Jong Un may be “testing the waters” by initially sending less experienced troops before committing more seasoned forces.
With the situation rapidly evolving, governments are stepping up their responses. A government delegation attended the North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on October 28 to brief on the North Korean troop deployment.
The NAC is NATO’s highest decision-making body, attended by ambassadors from its 32 member states. The government is also considering sending a monitoring team to Ukraine to observe the deployed North Korean forces, analyze their tactics, and study their operational doctrines.
South Korea and the United States are set to hold the 56th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, D.C., on October 30, followed by the 6th South Korea-U.S. Foreign and Defense (2+2) Ministerial Meeting on October 31, marking the first such meeting in three years. These meetings will discuss South Korea’s phased support for Ukraine in response to North Korea’s troop deployment.
BY HYUNGSOO PARK, YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
