On October 27, 2024, officials from the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs made their first official statement regarding the dispatch of troops to assist Russia, which is seen as an acknowledgement of North Korea’s involvement in supporting Russia.
According to reports from the South Korean news agency Yonhap on October 25th citing North Korea’s official news agency, the Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for Russia affairs, Kim Jong-kwi, stated that if such an action occurred, it would be in accordance with international rules and regulations. This statement amounts to an admission of North Korea dispatching troops to support Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Kim Jong-kwi mentioned that there are forces trying to portray this as an illegal act. The Foreign Ministry does not directly intervene in the work of the Ministry of National Defense and does not see the need to confirm this further. This is the first time that North Korea has taken a stance on the issue of “dispatching troops to assist Russia.”
The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed on October 18th that North Korea had decided to send troops to Russia. North Korea began dispatching a total of approximately 12,000 troops to assist Russia, with the first batch of 1,500 already arriving in Russia.
The NIS pointed out that North Korean soldiers have been issued Russian military uniforms and weapons, as well as fake identification cards resembling Siberian Yakut and Buryat people, who have similar appearances to North Koreans. This is to disguise them as Russian troops or to conceal the true fact that North Korean soldiers are involved in the conflict.
As for how long the North Korean troops sent to assist Russia can hold out, commentator Shen Zhou wrote on the 26th that theoretically, if the 12,000 North Korean troops were deployed to the front lines, they could only sustain themselves for about 10 days before being severely depleted. The Russian military does not value the lives of soldiers and would not hesitate to use North Korean troops as cannon fodder on the front lines. If North Korean soldiers are forced by commanders to engage in human wave tactics, they are likely to perish even faster.
On October 18th, the South Korean Presidential Office stated that President Yoon Suk-yeol convened an emergency security meeting to discuss the matter of North Korea dispatching troops to assist Russia.
South Korea believes that North Korea’s provision of military assistance and direct deployment of troops to support Russia pose a serious threat to the security of South Korea and the international community. South Korea will not sit idly by and will collaborate with the international community to take all necessary measures in response to this situation.
President Yoon Suk-yeol held a meeting with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda on the 24th.
In a joint press conference following the meeting, President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that while South Korea has previously adhered to the principle of not directly providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, they may show more flexibility in response to the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. If North Korea dispatches special forces to assist Russia’s attack on Ukraine, South Korea will provide support to Ukraine in stages and discuss and implement measures necessary to safeguard the security of the Korean Peninsula.