South Korean Military Detects No Imminent Additional North Korean Troop Deployment to Russia

South Korea's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reported on Sunday that no signs of an imminent dispatch of additional North Korean troops to Russia have been detected. The assessment was shared in a report submitted to Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the People Power Party. While no immediate movement has been identified at the working level, the DIA noted that North Korea continues to make internal preparations for a possible additional deployment.

This finding follows claims made last month by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia was preparing to bring in more than 30,000 additional North Korean troops to a southwest border region. North Korea has denied these claims, with Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, dismissing the reports as groundless and a fabrication.

The DIA estimates that North Korea has deployed more than 16,000 troops to Russia since October 2024, noting that many of these soldiers are believed to have been killed or wounded. Additionally, the agency estimates that Pyongyang has supplied Russia with over 15 million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells and various weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles.

Rep. Yu warned that the combat experience and battlefield data North Korea is accumulating in the Russia-Ukraine war could eventually pose a greater military threat to the Korean Peninsula. The DIA further assessed that North Korea is nearing completion of several short-range ballistic missiles and multiple rocket launchers targeting South Korea, while continuing development on longer-range systems and submarine-launched missiles.