South Korean intelligence has identified a missile operator from North Korea who helped launch missiles over Ukraine
20 October, 2024 A North Korean military expert with Kim. Photo credits: NHK World Japan South Korean intelligence says it has identified a North Korean missile engineer who participated in the launch of ballistic missiles into Ukraine.
NHK World Japan reported on this. South Korea's National Intelligence Service made the claim on October 18. The statement said that the expert is likely the same person who accompanied North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un last year during an inspection of a munitions plant.
Intelligence analyzed the photo believed to have been taken near Ukraine's Donetsk region on an undisclosed date.
A North Korean military expert with Kim. Photo credits: NHK World Japan
The site is believed to be a launch site for North Korean-made, short-range ballistic missiles. South Korean intelligence says facial recognition technology concludes that it is more than 80 percent likely that one person in the picture is an engineer who accompanied Kim to a factory that manufactures mobile missile launchers in August last year.
On October 10, Militarnyi reported that North Korean military experts are helping Russians use KN-23 tactical missile systems. On October 18, it was announced that South Korean intelligence reports that 12,000 North Korean troops, including Special Forces, have been dispatched to fight in the war against Ukraine.
Illustration photo of North Korean military personnel. Photo from open sources
Militarnyi previously published what is likely to be the first video evidence of North Korean military training on Russian territory.
It captures people in Russian military uniforms, who look like North Korean citizens, moving through the territory of a Russian military unit. The cameraman's sleeve chevron with the symbols of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, which borders the DPRK, can be seen in the frame. Such chevrons are worn instead of the symbols of military units, particularly by the employees of the training centers and garrisons of military training grounds.
The Ukrainian OSINT project CyberBoroshno geolocated the shooting site (here) in the village of Sergeevka, Pogranichny district, Primorsky Krai.
It is located just 230 kilometers from the border with North Korea.