By Hyunhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's military said on Monday it had detected indications that North Korea was preparing to send more troops and weapons, including suicide drones, to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.
North Korea has already supplied 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers, and was seen preparing to produce more suicide drones for shipment to Russia after leader Kim Jong Un led a test last month, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul ( JCS). ).
“Suicide drones are one of the missions that Kim Jong Un has focused on,” a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, adding that the North has expressed its intention to hand them over to Russia.
State media reported that such drones were widely used in the Ukraine war, and Kim ordered the production of large quantities of air weapons and the modernization of military theory and education, citing intensified global competition.
Seoul, Washington and Kiev said there are about 12,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said at least 1,100 of them were killed or wounded, in line with a briefing by South Korea's spy agency last week that reported about 100 people were killed and 1,000 others wounded in the Kursk region.
The official said growing military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow could pose greater threats to Seoul as it modernizes its conventional forces, considered inferior to South Korea's, and gains combat experience.
Along the heavily fortified Korean border, North Korea has sent up to 10,000 troops to turn the area into a wasteland and install barriers and razor wire in recent weeks, though numbers fell to several hundred over the weekend, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff released photos that it said showed a group of North Korean forces testing the electrified wire fence using a goat.
She added that there is also the possibility that North Korea could test-fire a medium-range hypersonic missile around the end of the year before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, while sending more garbage balloons to the South.
North Korea has launched thousands of balloons loaded with garbage bags since late May, saying it was responding to balloons carrying propaganda leaflets launched by South Korean activists.
“With Russia’s support, they are likely to attempt various strategic provocations next year, such as launching intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducting a nuclear test to bolster its negotiating power with the United States,” the official said.
