North Korea is reportedly preparing to deploy additional soldiers to the Ukraine war, according to South Korean military officials, despite previous reports of heavy casualties among North Korean troops already present on the battlefield.
Speculation about Pyongyang’s increased support for Moscow emerged as Donald Trump suggested he would seek to renew ties with Kim Jong-un, referring to the North Korean leader as a “smart guy” during an interview.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) issued a statement on Friday indicating that, four months after North Korea initially sent an estimated 11,000 troops to Ukraine—many of whom have suffered casualties—the regime “is suspected of accelerating follow-up measures and preparing for an additional dispatch of troops.”
While the JCS did not specify the nature of these follow-up measures, North Korea’s involvement in the conflict dates back to last autumn, months after Kim and Vladimir Putin agreed to a mutual defense pact aimed at strengthening their alliance against what they described as a US-led “Western hegemony.”
In return for providing personnel, weaponry, and ammunition, Pyongyang is believed to be seeking access to advanced Russian missile and satellite technology.
In an interview on Thursday, Trump said he intended to reestablish contact with Kim, with whom he met three times during his first term in office.
When asked if he planned to “reach out” to Kim again, Trump responded: “I will, yeah. He liked me.”
Trump recalled that Barack Obama had identified North Korea as the “biggest threat” during their 2016 presidential transition.
North Korea and Russia (Photo: AP)
“[Obama] said North Korea is the biggest threat, and I solved that problem,” Trump stated, according to a report from the Yonhap news agency. “And I got along with him. He’s not a religious zealot. He happens to be a smart guy. Kim Jong-un is a smart guy.”
The first summit between a US president and a North Korean leader took place in Singapore in June 2018, where Trump and Kim signed an agreement committing to the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” Trump hailed the meeting as a success.
However, their second summit in Hanoi in February 2019 ended without agreement, as the two leaders could not reconcile differences over what sanctions relief the US should provide in exchange for North Korea dismantling its nuclear arsenal.
They met again in June 2019 at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, agreeing to resume working-level talks. However, nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang stalled after late 2019, and North Korea has since conducted numerous ballistic missile tests—though it has not tested a nuclear weapon since 2017.
North Korea’s military involvement in Ukraine is widely considered disastrous. Its troops lack combat experience and are operating in unfamiliar conditions. Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers, one of whom claimed he had been unaware he was being sent to war, believing instead he was participating in a training exercise.
Ukrainian officials estimate that North Korea has deployed approximately 11,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region. Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence reports suggest that 270 North Korean soldiers have been killed, with around 2,700 others wounded.
Although North Korea has not publicly acknowledged its role in the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not refute claims of North Korean forces operating in Russia when asked in October. Furthermore, North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Kim Jong-gyu, stated that any such deployment would be consistent with international law.
