North Korea sent 3,000 more troops to Russia, according to South's
assessment
[March 27, 2025]
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea sent around 3,000 additional
troops to Russia in January and February in continued support for
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, South Korea’s
military said Thursday in its latest assessment.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea has also been sending
more missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition to help Russia and
that North Korea could increase its weapons supplies further depending
on the war situation. Russia and Ukraine recently agreed on a limited
ceasefire, though both sides have accused each other of violations.
The military equipment North Korea has sent to Russia includes a
“considerable amount” of short-range ballistic missiles, 170 millimeter
self-propelled howitzers and around 220 units of 240 millimeter multiple
rocket launchers.
North Korea has sent approximately 11,000 military personnel to fight in
the war against Ukraine in its first involvement in a large-scale
conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Joint Chiefs assessed
that around 4,000 of them have been killed or wounded.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service previously attributed the
high North Korean casualties to the troops’ likely struggles in adapting
to drones and other elements of modern warfare. North Korean troops are
further disadvantaged by the crude tactics of their Russian commanders,
who have sent them into assault campaigns without providing rear-fire
support, the spy agency told lawmakers in January.
Still, Ukrainian military and intelligence officials have assessed that
the North Koreans are gaining crucial battlefield experience and have
been key to Russia’s strategy of overwhelming Ukraine by throwing large
numbers of soldiers into the battle for Kursk.
The South Korean military report came after North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un expressed his unwavering support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during a
meeting with a top Russian security official, Sergei Shoigu, last week
in Pyongyang. State media reports said Kim and Shoigu reaffirmed their
commitment to uphold a major mutual defense treaty agreed upon last
year. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told Russian media
on Thursday that the governments were discussing a potential visit by
Kim to Moscow but did not specify when it might take place.
“We always talk to everyone about exchanging visits. We are always
preparing,” he told RIA Novosti.
Kim showcases new military drones
Kim’s military support of Russia has raised concerns that he may receive
Russian technology transfers in return, further strengthening the threat
posed by his nuclear-armed military. Experts say drones are among the
potential areas where North Korea might seek to acquire Russian
technology and know-how.
North Korean state media said Thursday that Kim observed tests of newly
developed reconnaissance and attack drones this week and called for
their increased production. Kim in recent months has been emphasizing
the development of drones, and the tests were the latest display of his
country’s growing military capabilities.
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In this photo provided Thursday, March 27, 2025, by the North Korean
government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center left in a black jacket,
stands by what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone at an
undisclosed location in North Korea, earlier this week. Independent
journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in
this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content
of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified.
Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA"
which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean
Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Photos released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency
showed Kim observing what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone
roughly resembling Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail airborne warning and control
aircraft. Other images showed exploding drones crashing into military
vehicles used as targets.
The agency said the test demonstrated the reconnaissance drone’s ability
to track multiple targets and monitor troop movements on land and at
sea, potentially enhancing North Korea’s intelligence-gathering
operations and ability to neutralize enemy threats. The report said the
new exploding drones are designed for various attack missions and
feature unspecified artificial intelligence capabilities.
Kim expressed satisfaction with the drones’ performance and approved
plans to expand production, emphasizing that drones and AI should be
“top” priorities in efforts to advance his armed forces and adapt them
to modern warfare, KCNA said. The agency said the tests took place as
Kim visited a drone technology complex and an electronic warfare
research group on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Kim previously inspected other demonstrations of drones that explode on
impact in November and August last year.
When asked about the new reconnaissance drone, which North Korean state
media unveiled for the first time, Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson for South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the North likely modified an
existing aircraft to create an early-warning drone and may have used
certain components from Russia. He said North Korea was possibly
exaggerating the capabilities of the drone.
“As you can see, it looks quite cumbersome and we assess that it’s
likely vulnerable to interception,” Lee said during a briefing, without
elaborating further on the assessment.
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AP writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this
report.
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