Zelenskyi: DPRK transfers its own soldiers to Russian troops

14 October, 2024 North Korean (DPRK) military. Photo: Getty Images President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the transfer of the North Korean soldiers to the Russian Armed Forces.

The President wrote about this on his official Telegram page. According to him, military assistance from the DPRK continues to expand and is not limited to the transfer of weapons, including ballistic missiles and ammunition. In particular, within the framework of the alliance, Russia is now able to engage North Korean military personnel and specialists transferred by the DPRK for use in the rear.

DPRK military personnel.

Photo credits: www.kcna.kp

Previously, Western media began publishing information about the North Korean soldiers being sent to Ukraine as part of the Russian Armed Forces. According to The Guardian, their deployment was initially related to the adjustment of KN-23 ballistic missiles, which the DPRK is transferring to Russia as part of military cooperation. In addition, a small number of the Korean engineers were sent to Donbas to service artillery shells.

Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the NSDC of Ukraine, reported that the DPRK engineers were recording the defects in ammunition and monitoring its use by the Russian troops. Also, according to the Washington Post, several thousand soldiers are currently undergoing training in Russia, which may be deployed to Ukraine by the end of the year.

North Korean KN-23 tactical ballistic missile. Photo from open sources

The publication does not say where exactly the North Korean soldiers will be used, but there is a high probability that they will act as border guards, releasing the Russian soldiers from certain areas, who will then be transferred to Ukraine.

Such expanded cooperation between Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea became possible after the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between the countries, which also provides for military assistance to each other in case of aggression.

Despite the fact that the Russian government officials have noted that the new agreement is an update of the 1961 treaty, but with certain changes due to the different geopolitical situation in the world.

The signed agreement, according to South Korean media, is the most important for the DPRK since the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and will ensure closer cooperation between the countries in the military sphere.