TAIPEI, Taiwan – South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, or NIS, said on Monday it had “specific intelligence” that North Korean forces in Russia had suffered casualties but it did not comment on a media report that 500 North Koreans had been killed in a Ukrainian attack with British missiles.
The U.S. and South Korea have said that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Kursk. The U.S. has estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Kursk and they had begun combat operations alongside Russian forces.
Neither Russia nor North Korea have confirmed the presence of North Korean troops.
Videos circulated by pro-Russian war bloggers indicated that up to 12 British Storm Shadow missiles struck a target believed to be a command headquarters in the village of Maryno on Wednesday.
The site might have been used by North Korean and Russian officers, the defense news publisher Global Defense Corp reported.
South Korea’s NIS, while confirming it had “specific intelligence” to confirm North Korean casualties, did not provide any estimated casualty toll. It said it was closely monitoring the situation.
Separately, The Wall Street Journal, citing Western officials, said the attack on the command headquarters also killed one high-level North Korean official.
Ukraine’s military confirmed the use of the British missile, while Britain has not commented.
Anti-air missiles, air defense equipment
South Korea’s top security adviser said that in exchange for sending its troops to help Russia, North Korea had received anti-air missiles and other air defense equipment.
“Russia is believed to have provided equipment and anti-air missiles to strengthen Pyongyang’s vulnerable air defense system,” National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik said during an interview with the South Korean broadcaster SBS on Friday.
“Following North Korea’s failed military spy satellite launch on May 27, Russia had already declared its intention to support satellite-related technologies [to the North], and it reportedly supplied various military technologies,” Shin said.
“We believe that there has also been economic aid in various forms,” he added.
When asked about the possibility of the Russia-Ukraine war expanding into a wider war, Shin said it was unlikely.
“Especially, it is very difficult for Russia to actually use nuclear weapons,” Shin said.
On the possibility of North Korea sending additional troops to Russia, Shin said: “We cannot completely rule that out, but we have no confirmed information at this stage.”
“Russia currently does not have the multiple rocket launcher system and it remains to be seen whether all or part of the operational troops will go, but if all the assigned personnel were to go, it would be around 4,000 people at most,” he explained.
The NIS confirmed last week that North Korea had exported additional artillery ammunition and launchers to Russia, including 170-millimeter self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers, which raised a speculation that Pyongyang might send an additional artillery unit to Russia.
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Russian warning
Russia warned that it would respond strongly if South Korea supplies lethal weapons to Ukraine, saying it would “fully destroy relations between the two countries.”
“Seoul must realize that the possible use of South Korean weapons to kill Russian citizens will fully destroy relations between our countries,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in an interview with state news agency TASS on Sunday.
“Of course, we will respond in every way that we find necessary. It is unlikely that this will strengthen the security of the Republic of Korea itself.”
The Republic of Korea is South Korea’s official name.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a press conference on Nov. 7 that while Seoul had provided humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine, the situation has changed with the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
“If the North Korean military gains experience in modern warfare, it could become a critical problem for our security,” said Yoon.
“So we will now change the support method from the previous humanitarian nature to match the level of involvement of the North Korean military. We will not rule out weapons support to Ukraine.”
Edited by Mike Firn.