Key facts
- South Korean military has detected no signs of imminent additional North Korean troop deployment to Russia.
- North Korea continues to prepare for potential troop deployment to Russia.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously claimed Russia was preparing to deploy 30,000 North Korean troops.
- North Korea's Kim Yo-jong denied these claims as groundless.
- An estimated 16,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia since October 2024.
- North Korea has also supplied over 15 million artillery shells to Russia.
South Korea's military has detected no signs of an imminent dispatch of additional North Korean troops to Russia, according to a report cited by a lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) stated that while North Korea continues to prepare for a possible deployment, no immediate movement has been identified.
This assessment follows claims made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month, who alleged that Russia was preparing to bring in an additional 30,000 North Korean troops to its southwestern border region to aid its war efforts. However, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has dismissed Zelenskyy's assertion as "completely groundless."
A military official confirmed that North Korea appears to be making internal preparations for a potential troop deployment, but no concrete actions at the working level have been detected so far. The DIA estimates that North Korea has already deployed over 16,000 troops to Russia since October 2024, with many believed to have been killed or injured. Additionally, Pyongyang is thought to have supplied more than 15 million rounds of artillery shells to Russia.