Updated on Oct. 23, 2024 2:10 p.m. E.T.
Russia will pay North Korean troops about US$2,000 per month each, South Korea’s spy agency said on Wednesday, as the United States announced there was evidence that the troops were in Russia.
The salary paid by Moscow would represent an enormous increase. Last month, RFA Korean reported that the average salary for military personnel had increased 10-fold from between 100 and 300 won (.6 cents to 1.8 cents) to between 1,000 and 3,000 won (6 cents to 18 cents).
The Ukrainian government-run news platform United24 reported that it was likely that most of the money would “remain with the state.”
North Korea typically keeps most of the salaries paid to the workers it dispatches overseas, but it was not immediately clear how much of the $2,000 each soldier would actually receive.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, or NIS, said that more than 3,000 North Korean troops had been sent to Russia, with the total expected to reach 10,000 by December.
But the agency added it believed that the North Koreans in Russia had not been deployed to combat zones but had been dispersed across a number of training facilities, according to South Korean lawmakers, including Park Sun-won, who were briefed by the security agency.
The North Korean soldiers were receiving “specialized training” in the use of military equipment and piloting unmanned aerial vehicles, the lawmakers cited the NIS as saying.
The agency said Russian instructors were impressed by the North Koreans’ good physical shape and morale but added they lacked an understanding of modern warfare, including the use of attack drones, and were expected to suffer heavy casualties when they reached the front lines.
The NIS said that it also detected signs of large-scale recruitment of Korean interpreters by the Russian military.
There were also reports that North Korean authorities were screening the deployed soldiers’ families back in the North to ensure “effective information control and management,” said the spy agency.
Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday he believed North Korean troops were already in Russia, and it remained to be seen what their duties would be.
“There is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,” Austin told reporters in Rome, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,” Austin added.
Ukraine and South Korea have accused North Korea of deploying troops to help Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, which both North Korea and Russia deny.
‘Escalate the conflict”
The NIS briefing came after Ukrainian media reported that the first North Korean troops were expected to arrive in Russia’s Kursk region on Wednesday to help Russian forces battling Ukrainian invaders there.
“We are waiting for the first units tomorrow in the Kursk direction,” Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate, told The War Zone website on Tuesday.
“It is unclear at the moment how many or how they will be equipped. We will see after a couple of days,” he added.
Russia’s southwestern Kursk region has been engulfed in battles with Ukraine’s troops for over two months. Ukraine says it has captured more than two dozen Kursk settlements since launching its surprise incursion on Aug. 6.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin agreed on a partnership at a summit in Pyongyang on June 19 that included a mutual defense clause in case of “aggression” against either country.
Even before the pact there were signs of growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Over the past year, there has been widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine – now approaching its third year – in exchange for military and economic support.
Additionally, reports suggest North Korean fighter pilots may have been deployed to Russia to operate combat aircraft, potentially addressing Russia’s pilot shortages. North Korean munitions factories are also believed to be running at full capacity, producing weapons both for export and internal use, according to South Korean officials.
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British Defence Secretary John Healey said on Tuesday it was “highly likely” North Korea has begun sending hundreds of troops to support Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.
Russia has denied that, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing the reports as “fake news.” A North Korean representative to the United Nations labeled them as “groundless rumors,” insisting the North’s cooperation with Russia was “legitimate and cooperative.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that the involvement of North Korean troops could significantly escalate the conflict, and South Korea’s presidential office said Seoul might consider supplying weapons to Ukraine as a countermeasure against the developing military ties between North Korea and Russia.
On Monday, Putin reportedly submitted a bill to parliament to ratify a treaty elevating relations with North Korea to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as agreed by the leaders at their June summit.
Edited by Mike Firn and Eugene Whong.
Update includes information about North Korean soldiers' salaries.