Seoul, 24 August (H.S.): The South Korean military has found no indications of an immediate new deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, although Pyongyang continues to prepare for the possible dispatch of additional personnel.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, opposition People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won cited a military report on Sunday, saying that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) had assessed that North Korea was continuing preparations for another deployment, but had detected no activities indicating that additional troops were about to be sent to Russia.

The South Korean intelligence assessment comes amid a recent claim by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia was preparing to deploy around 30,000 additional North Korean troops to its southwestern border region to support its war effort against Ukraine.

South Korean military officials have confirmed that North Korea is making internal preparations for the possibility of sending additional troops. However, no on-the-ground activity has so far been detected that would indicate an imminent deployment.

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, dismissed Zelenskyy’s claim about the possible deployment of additional troops as completely unfounded last week.

International concern over North Korea’s military support for Russia has intensified since military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow expanded, including the reported provision of troops and weapons to the Russian military.

According to estimates by South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency, North Korea has sent more than 16,000 troops to Russia since October 2024. A significant number of those personnel are believed to have been killed or wounded.

The DIA has also assessed that North Korea has supplied Russia with more than 15 million artillery shells.

The latest assessment by the South Korean military indicates that North Korea is preparing to maintain its military cooperation with Russia, although there are currently no concrete signs of another large-scale troop deployment.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar