... In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang to discuss a security partnership with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Prior to this, there had been rumors of extensive North Korean arms deliveries to Russia. And as early as 2023, the Ukrainian military intelligence had reported that a limited North Korean military contingent had arrived in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Now, latest findings by South Korean national intelligence service (NIS) indicate that the North Korean-Russian ties have reached new heights. ...
North Korean soldiers in Russia
According to a report published last Friday, Pyongyang wants to provide up to 12,000 soldiers for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Of these, 1,500 were said to have already disembarked in the Russian port city of Vladivostok. Meanwhile, the NIS has upped this number to around 3,000 soldiers.
It would appear that North Korean soldiers are to be issued Russian uniforms in order to conceal their identity. DW's fact-checking team was able to confirm that the footage provided by the NIS shows locations in Russia's eastern military districts.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have yet officially confirmed the findings.
"At the moment, there is little concrete information and a lot of vague speculation," Nico Lange, a senior fellow at the Munich Security Conference, told DW.
"But there is no doubt that North Koreans are in Russia for training," he added. "And there is also no doubt that for some time now (...) construction units of the North Korean armed forces have been active in the occupied territories in Ukraine."
And yet, he also cautions not to draw the conclusion that 12,000 North Korean soldiers were now fighting in Russian trenches across Ukraine. "That's not what we've been observing so far," he said. ...
