Kyiv: More than 3,000 “mercenaries” from North Korea have commenced training in a front-line area amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a website operated by the Ukrainian military.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the National Resistance Center, established by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, made this announcement on its website Monday. The development comes as the United States reported that North Korea has dispatched approximately 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia.
The announcement highlighted, “According to the information of the concerned population of the Kursk region, more than 3,000 mercenaries from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have begun to organize themselves on the ground,” referring to North Korea by its official name. Ukraine had previously indicated that North Korean troops were moving into the Kursk border region in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces initiated an incursion in August.
The website further detailed that North Korean troops are un
dergoing training at various grounds, primarily being transported at night. Additionally, officials from North Korea’s embassy have arrived to serve as interpreters and observers.
The statement noted, “It is not yet known when the regime’s soldiers will be sent directly to the war zone and how long the training will last. However, the locations of the militants are known.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier posted on the social media platform X that North Korean troops could potentially join the battlefield against Ukraine “in a matter of days.”
In a related development, a high-level South Korean delegation briefed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Monday regarding North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia. One official mentioned that the dispatch is occurring more rapidly than previously anticipated.