South Korea Says North Korean Mercenaries Integrated with Russian Units

South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, a member of his parliament’s intelligence committee, said Wednesday that about 10,900 North Korean mercenary soldiers have been deployed to Kursk for a counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces.

Lee said the North Koreans are mixed into Russian airborne and marine units, and some have already seen combat.

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North Korea is also sending more weapons to Russia, Lee said, including 170mm self-propelled howitzers and 240mm multiple rocket launchers (MRLs). He said North Korean technicians have been sent to maintain the weapons, which are significantly different from those normally used by the Russian military.

Lee said the North Koreans underwent “on-site adaptation training” and “tactical training” with Russian soldiers before joining them in combat, with an emphasis on teaching the North Korean personnel how to use Russian drones.

There have been North Korean casualties, Lee said, and South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) is still trying to determine how many were killed and injured, along with how many have surrendered.

Park Sun-won, another member of the South Korean legislature’s intelligence committee, said North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui had an “unusual” meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin when she visited Moscow this month. One purpose of this meeting may have been laying the groundwork for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to visit Russia.

“Putin greeted Choe on a national holiday. We believe the meeting touched upon important agendas, including sensitive ones like a potential visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It appears likely that both sides discussed more than exchanging cordial words,” the NIS told legislators, according to Park.

The NIS expressed hope that the war in Ukraine would end soon because it worries that if Russia keeps importing North Korean weapons and troops, it could reciprocate by offering dangerous technology to Pyongyang. Seoul is also troubled by the prospect of North Korean troops gaining valuable combat experience in the Ukraine war.

The NIS estimated that Russia is paying about $2,000 for each North Korean mercenary — a phenomenal sum for North Koreans, whose average wage is about one dollar a month, but most of the money is probably taken by the tyrannical North Korean government and its ruling family. This would make Russia’s total outlay for the North Korean soldiers about $22 million per month.

Ukraine’s top diplomat in South Korea, Dmytro Ponomarenko, said on Sunday that North Korea’s deployment to Russia could soon rise to over 15,000 — and since fresh troops would constantly be rotated to the combat zone, over 100,000 North Koreans could eventually become involved in the campaign.

“Our security is interconnected,” Ponomarenko said in an interview with South Korean media.