North Korean soldiers hold stretchers that appear to be carrying soldiers wounded or killed due to landmine explosions, while conducting construction activities in the North’s eastern front, in this photo provided by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on March 27, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea appears to have additionally dispatched at least 3,000 soldiers to Russia in January and February in support of Moscow’s war against Ukraine, South Korea’s military said Thursday.
The assessment came amid concerns that North Korea and Russia’s deepening military alignment could lead to Moscow transferring advanced arms technologies to Pyongyang in return for the troop deployment.
“Of the some 11,000 North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia, 4,000 casualties have occurred, and it appears that some 3,000 or more have been additionally dispatched in January and February,” the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
In addition to the troop deployment, the JCS said the North continues to supply missiles, ammunition and artillery equipment to Russia, including “a considerable amount of short-range ballistic missiles and around 220 pieces of 170 millimeter self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm rocket launchers.”
The South’s military said the North appears to be making technological upgrades to launch another military spy satellite, although there are no imminent signs of such a launch.
The JCS said it is closely monitoring North Korea’s possible provocations, including launches of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, a hypersonic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
North Korea, which has been carrying out construction activities in the border area since last year, was found to have installed a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera on a transmission tower north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
“While it is not a direct threat for surveillance operations, (the South Korean military) is maintaining surveillance operations and readiness posture while factoring in the development, as such activities could be exposed to the North Korean military,” the JCS said, adding the CCTV camera was installed in early February.
Since last year, the North has been removing power lines and transmission towers built along the Gyeongui road in what was seen as a move to sever inter-Korean ties. It has so far taken down 11 transmission towers.
The North, which has mobilized troops to reinforce barbed wire on its side of the border, continued to carry out the task and recently suffered multiple casualties due to landmine explosions in the area, the JCS said.
Internally, the North appears to be carrying out a smaller number of wintertime military training compared with last year, the South’s military said, attributing the fall to troop mobilization for various construction works, preparation for additional deployment to Russia and chronic energy shortage.
On its policies against the United States, the JCS assessed that the North appears to be focusing on increasing its bargaining power by boasting its nuclear capabilities and releasing a barrage of statements denouncing joint drills between South Korea and the U.S. and deployment of key U.S. military assets to the Korean Peninsula.
The North, which has condemned joint drills as a rehearsal for war, did not carry out major provocations this year as the allies conducted their annual springtime Freedom Shield exercise earlier this month.
(Yonhap)
