Lawmakers: South Korea’s spy chief says North Korea has sent another 1,500 troops to Russia

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea has sent another 1,500 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

Last week, the National Intelligence Service said it had confirmed that North Korea sent 1,500 special operation forces to Russia this month.

NIS director Cho Tae-yong told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that his agency has found North Korea sent additional 1,500 soldiers to Russia, according to lawmakers Park Sunwon and Lee Seong Kweun who attended the meeting.

Park cited Cho as saying that North Korea plans to send a total of 10,000 troops to Russia by December.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has earlier said his government had intelligence that 10,000 North Korea soldiers were being prepared to join invading Russian forces.

North Korea and Russia have been sharply boosting their cooperation in the past two years. In June, they signed a major defense deal requiring both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

South Korea’s spy agency recently said that North Korea had sent more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional arms to Russia since August 2023 to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.

Reports that the North is sending troops to Russia stoked security jitters in South Korea. South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that could boost the North’s nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea.

The U.S. and NATO haven’t officially confirmed reports of North Korea’s troop dispatch but warned of the danger of the movements if true.