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Posted on Oct 30, 2024 / World

South Korea fears that North Korea may request nuclear technology in exchange for sending its troops to Russia

In exchange for sending its troops to Russia, North Korea may “highly likely” request technology, for example, "in the area of ​​nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities", South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said at a press conference with Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin.

According to the South Korean minister, the deployment of North Korean troops will not necessarily lead to war on the Korean Peninsula, but could increase security threats in relations between the two countries.

A senior South Korean official said at a closed briefing that Seoul estimates the number of North Korean troops sent to Russia at 11,000. About 3,000 of them are said to be already in the western part of the country undergoing training.

As Austin stated at an open briefing, "there is reason to believe" that the DPRK has sent about 10,000 soldiers for training in eastern Russia, and some "have already approached Ukraine." "We see that they are dressed in Russian uniforms and equipped with Russian ammunition," Austin said.

He recalled that Russia signed a UN Security Council resolution that obliges it not to provide military assistance to the DPRK.

Austin also assured his South Korean counterpart that the United States "remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea." This commitment, according to him, is backed by "the full range of conventional missile defense weapons, nuclear and advanced non-nuclear capabilities of the United States."

In mid-October, South Korean intelligence began reporting on the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia. According to intelligence estimates, it was about 12 thousand soldiers. By the end of October, some of them (about 1,500 fighters) had already been transferred to the Russian Far East for training, intelligence claimed.

On October 28, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that the North Korean soldiers transferred to Russia were sent to the Kursk region to help the Russian military. US President Joe Biden called the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia a "dangerous event" amid Western speculation that they would participate in the war in Ukraine on Russia's side. On October 30, the Financial Times, citing Ukrainian intelligence, reported that about three thousand North Korean troops were brought from the Far East to the Kursk region and placed on October 28 in barracks about 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin did not directly confirm the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war, but on October 24, at a press conference after the BRICS summit, he answered a question about satellite images that show the presence of North Korean troops. "Images are a serious thing. If there are pictures, it means they reflect something,” Putin said.

Russian ambassador summoned to South Korean Foreign Ministry over alleged sending of DPRK troops to Ukraine.

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