Ukraine issues update on size of North Korean force in Russia

Tens of thousands of North Korean soldiers could gain valuable battlefield experience in the coming year as they deploy to the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s top diplomat in Seoul.

Dmytro Ponomarenko told Weekly selected the newspaper that South Korea should respond by lifting its embargo on the supply of arms to Ukraine. He also called on the West to allow long-range strikes on Russian territory – a long-standing demand of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.

Ponomarenko’s comments, published on Sunday, came shortly before the US reportedly authorized Ukraine’s armed forces to fire US-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles at targets inside Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which borders Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.

Russia’s far-eastern Kursk region has been partially captured by Ukraine in a surprise attack since August. This is where thousands of North Korean troops have been sent to fight alongside the Russian army, according to Western intelligence agencies, which put the counteroffensive force at around 50,000 strong.

The US State Department confirmed last week that North Korean troops had begun engaging in combat operations against Ukrainian forces. Earlier this month, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Pyongyang’s direct military involvement would make North Korean soldiers “legitimate military targets.”

In a separate interview with Voice of America’s Korean service on Saturday, the Ukrainian diplomat said the number of North Korean troops in Kursk could rise to 15,000 from the current estimate of 11,000. A similar number may be deployed to the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, according to Ponomarenko.

In Kursk, North Korea has established a command and control node run by seven generals, Ponomarenko said. Ukraine believes rotational deployments from Pyongyang could see around 100,000 North Korean soldiers become battle-hardened veterans.

North Korean forces experienced in “modern warfare” would pose a danger to the security of the Korean Peninsula, he said. “Our security is interconnected.”

The Korean People’s Army under the command of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a standing force of 1.3 million personnel, only less than the active militaries of China and the United States – 2 million and 1.4 million respectively.

In September, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the Russian armed forces to 1.5 million active duty members. The order, when fully realized, would see the Kremlin occupy the world’s second largest military force.

The war between Russia and Ukraine, now in its third winter, had become a “global conflict” because of North Korea’s participation, Ponomarenko said. Weekly selected.

In exchange for sending elite special operations forces, Kim is likely to receive Russian money as well as technical assistance to develop key military technologies, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, the official said.

North Korea’s embassy in Beijing and Russia’s foreign ministry did not return multiple requests for comment.