The South Korean government this week has made a big and bold accusation - it says North Korean troops are currently fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
The charge was specifically made by Seoul's defense minister Kim Yong-hyun on Tuesday. He described that he has reason to believe that six North Korean officers were killed in Donetsk when a Ukrainian missile hit their location on October 3rd. He called reports which first surfaced in Ukrainian media "highly likely".
The defense minister in a briefing with South Korean political leaders said, "We assess that the occurrence of casualties among North Korean officers and soldiers in Ukraine is highly likely, considering various circumstances."
"The issue of deploying regular troops is highly likely due to the mutual agreements that resemble a military alliance between Russia and North Korea," he noted further.
Seoul expects that more North Korean troops will be sent to the conflict. The accusation, which lacks hard evidence, comes after months of official US allegations saying the north has sent arms and ammo into Russia by the trainload.
What is clear is that Moscow and Pyongyang have made no secret that they are deepening their ties, including on the military front, but both sides have denied North Korean involvement in Ukraine.
There have been several exchanges of defense delegations, and Kim has visited Russia, and Putin even made a very rare visit to Pyongyang in June. The two leaders signed a mutual defense agreement this past summer.
Below is how the initial claims of North Korean officer deaths were reported in Ukrainian and US media:
Six North Korean military officers were among about 20 military personnel killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Russian-occupied territory near the city of Donetsk, a Ukrainian news agency reported.
Citing sources in Ukraine’s military intelligence, Interfax-Ukraine said three North Korean servicemen were also wounded. Ukraine’s Kyiv Post reported that the attack happened on Thursday, citing intelligence sources.
Interfax-Ukraine, in its report on Friday, cited Russian bloggers as saying that North Korean military officers were visiting the front as part of an "exchange of experience" program.
The North Korean military was shown how the Russians were “preparing for assault actions, for defense,” when “a missile strike was launched on the training ground,” the Ukrainian news agency added.
If true this would mark a major escalation of N.Korea's involvement. "More North Korean troops could be deployed in the war," Seoul has warned.
The West wouldn't be able to do much, having already put fairly maximum sanctions on both Russia and North Korea. It could be another dangerous sign that the Ukraine war is getting more and more internationalized.
