The military in South Korea reported signs on Monday that North Korea is preparing to send more troops and arms, including suicide drones, to Russia to back up its ongoing war against Ukraine.
According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), North Korea has already sold 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers to Russia. Now, after conducting a recent test guided by leader Kim Jong Un, it is preparing to produce even more suicide drones. A JCS official said, “Suicide drones are one of the tasks that Kim Jong Un has focused on,” he added, “North Korea also intends to supply them to Russia.”.
Suicide drones have been a significant part of Ukraine conflict, and Kim has directed to mass-produce and make updates in military education that he says is needed now due to increasing global competition, according to North Korean state media.
South Korea, along with the U.S. and Ukraine, has reported that around 12,000 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia. The JCS also noted that at least 1,100 of them have been killed or wounded, a figure consistent with last week’s briefing by South Korea’s spy agency, which mentioned about 100 deaths and 1,000 wounded in the Kursk region.
An even newer development: increasingly rapprochement between the former with North Korea and the second one is military cooperation and a threat, which stands on rise against Seoul’s security. According to his version as North Korea develops its regulars army, nowadays being inferior on scale to that of South Koreans – though such could increasingly show higher chance to Seoul.
Recently, North Korea has dispatched as many as 10,000 troops to bolster its highly fortified border zone where they are setting up barbed wire and fencing. The JCS also released photos showing North Korean troops testing an electrified wire fence using a goat.
There is speculation that North Korea might test-fire an intermediate-range hypersonic missile toward the end of the year, possibly around U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and continue sending balloons filled with trash to South Korea. North Korea has launched thousands of such balloons since late May in retaliation for similar balloon operations by South Korean activists carrying propaganda leaflets.
According to him, North Korea might continue with escalating provocations, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles launches and also conducting a nuclear test if Russia supports them next year to enhance their bargaining positions with the United States.
