North Korean troops in Russia, Seoul says

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Friday confirmed that roughly 1,500 soldiers from North Korea’s special forces were currently on Russian soil. And the intelligence agency expects more of Pyongyang’s soldiers are likely to join them, it said. Meanwhile, the agency expects the North Korean troops currently on Russian soil to deploy to the front lines in Ukraine in the coming days. They will do so disguised in Russian uniforms and with fake identification cards issued to them by Russian authorities, South Korea said.

Has North Korea sent weapons to Moscow? South Korean intelligence officially confirmed reports of previous collusion between Pyongyang and Moscow in its statement on Friday. Seoul’s intelligence indicates that Russia has received shipments of anti-tank rockets and short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea. Pyongyang has also sent Russia more than 8 million rounds of artillery ammunition, Seoul reported.

Ukrainian authorities have already reported that Russian forces have used North Korean missiles in attacks on civilian infrastructure in recent weeks. However, weapons supplied by Pyongyang are frequently inaccurate and often defective, according to the National Intelligence Service. As such, Russian forces have used them in massive barrages to maintain their front lines and not for precision strikes against high-value targets.

Has the United States verified these reports? Earlier this week, National Security Advisor John Kirby said the United States could not independently confirm reports that North Korean soldiers were involved in Russia’s ground war in Ukraine. Nonetheless, the U.S. officials harbored concerns about the reports and were investigating them further, he said. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller this week said that if the reports were true, it signaled desperation on the part of Moscow concerning its war efforts in Ukraine.

Is China in any way cooperating with Russia? The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday sanctioned three Chinese entities for supplying Russia with long-range attack drones. The Department of the Treasury also sanctioned one Russian individual, Artem Mikhailovich Yamshchikov, who has assisted Moscow in procuring the supplies from Beijing. Beijing on Friday denounced the sanctions, saying it had never provided lethal aid to Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Dig deeper: Listen to Les Sillars’ reports—Part I and II—about Free North Korea Radio, which seeks to undermine North Korea’s totalitarian regime.