North Korea preparing to send more troops to Ukraine war, says South Korea
North Korea preparing to send more troops to Ukraine war, says South Korea
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Pyongyang said to be planning to increase support despite high casualties among estimated 11,000 already sent. North Korea is preparing to send more soldiers to fight in the Ukraine war, military officials in South Korea have said, despite reports of heavy casualties among troops from the communist state who have already been sent to the battlefield.
The claim that Pyongyang could be planning to increase its support for the Kremlin came as Donald Trump suggested he would attempt to rekindle his relationship with Kim Jong-un, describing the North Korean leader as a “smart guy” in an interview with Fox News.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Friday that four months after the North sent an estimated 11,000 troops to the Ukraine conflict – a significant number of whom have been killed or wounded – the regime “is suspected of accelerating follow-up measures and preparation for an additional dispatch of troops”.
The JCS did not give details of what follow-up measures Pyongyang might be considering. North Korea began sending troops to the Ukraine war last autumn, months after Kim and Vladimir Putin agreed a mutual defence pact designed to strengthen their alliance against what the leaders called a US-led “western hegemony”.
In return for providing boots on the ground, as well as weapons and ammunition, North Korea is thought to be hoping to gain access to sophisticated Russian missile and satellite technology. In an interview on Thursday, Trump said he planned to resurrect attempts to engage Kim, whom he met three times during his first term in the White House.
