SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. defense secretary said Wednesday there is evidence that North Korea has sent troops to Russia, calling it a “very, very serious issue” if they join the war in Ukraine on Moscow’s side and warning of possible consequences.
South Korea’s spy chief, meanwhile, told lawmakers that 3,000 North Korean troops are now in Russia receiving training on drones and other equipment before being deployed to battlefields in Ukraine.
The U.S. had not previously formally confirmed North Korea’s reported troop dispatch.
“We are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops” that have gone to Russia, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters during a visit to Rome. “What exactly they’re doing — left to be seen.”
He added: “If they’re co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific.”
He called it a “next step” after the North has provided Russia with arms, and said Pyongyang could face consequences for aiding Russia directly. He did not provide details, saying analysts were assessing the situation.
South Korean intelligence first publicized reports that the Russian navy had taken 1,500 North Korean special warfare troops to Russia this month, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government had intelligence that 10,000 North Korea soldiers were being prepared to join the invading Russian forces.
Russia and North Korea have denied the troop movements. They have sharply boosted their cooperation in the past two years, and in June they signed a major defense deal requiring both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.
South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that could boost its nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea. South Korea said Tuesday it would consider supplying weapons to Ukraine in response to the reported troop dispatch.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday said North Korea sending troops to Ukraine would mark a “significant escalation,” and said he asked South Korea’s president to send experts to Brussels next week to brief the military alliance.
On Wednesday, South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers that another 1,500 North Korean troops have entered Russia, according to lawmaker Park Sunwon, who attended Cho’s closed-door briefing.
Cho told lawmakers his agency assessed that North Korea aims to deploy a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December, Park told reporters.
Park cited Cho as saying the 3,000 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been split among multiple military bases. Cho told lawmakers that NIS believes they have yet to be deployed in battle, Park said.
Also speaking jointly about the briefing, lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun said the NIS found that the Russian military is teaching those North Korean soldiers how to use military equipment such as drones.
Lee cited the NIS chief as saying Russian instructors have high opinions of the morale and physical strength of the North Korean soldiers but think they will eventually suffer heavy causalities because they lack an understanding of modern warfare. Lee, citing Cho, said Russia is recruiting a large number of interpreters.