June 27, 2025
SEOUL – The National Intelligence Service, Seoul’s main spy agency, said Thursday that North Korea may soon dispatch additional troops to Russia.
According to People Power Party Rep. Lee Seong-kweun, who was briefed by the NIS, the deployment could be made in July and August at the earliest.
North Korea first sent 11,000 troops to Russia in October last year, and 4,000 more troops this February.
During a trip to Pyongyang last week by top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu, Russian media reports said that 6,000 military engineers and construction troops would be sent to the Kursk region, where Russian forces have been working to build a so-called “buffer zone.”
“North Korea deployed 11,000 elite soldiers to Russia late last year, about a month after Shoigu’s Pyongyang trip. North Korea has recently begun recruiting soldiers for deployment as well,” Lee said.
In addition to troops, the NIS believes North Korea has supplied Russia with weapons, including artillery shells, long-range artillery and missiles, via ships and military aircraft, Lee said.
The NIS said Russia is thought to have provided North Korea with economic assistance, air defense missile systems and jamming equipment in return, as well as help with improving its space launch vehicle engines, drones and missile guidance capabilities, according to Lee.
Regarding the recent ceasefire entered by Israel and Iran, the NIS believes an armed conflict “could resume anytime,” said Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Park Sun-won, who was also briefed by the spy agency.
“The NIS said the hostility between the two sides is so stark that an armed clash could erupt again at any given time,” Park said.
Citing the NIS, the Democratic Party lawmaker said, “Israel may restart the war based on domestic political calculations, and Iran may also go to war to reassert its influence as it sorts out its internal turmoil.”
arin@heraldcorp.com