North Korea may send up to 100,000 soldiers to help Russia – Bloomberg

North Korea could send up to 100,000 troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

Source: Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with estimates made by some of the G20 countries

Details: According to one source, North Korea might send up to 100,000 troops to back Russia's war in Ukraine if the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow strengthens.

Reports say this is one of several analyses focusing on the alliance between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The sources emphasised that such a step is not unavoidable, and that if it occurs, military support of this magnitude will most likely be provided by groups with rotation of troops over time, rather than within the framework of a single deployment.

The publication quotes Ukraine's Ambassador to South Korea, Dmytro Ponomarenko, who stated in early November that up to 15,000 North Korean troops fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast and possibly in the occupied areas of Ukraine's east will be rotated every few months.

According to Bloomberg, numerous allies will discuss the problem of cooperation between the DPRK and Russia during the G20 summit in Brazil this week, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

German authorities say Scholz would press the Chinese leader at their meeting in Rio on Tuesday to use his influence with Russia and North Korea to prevent further escalation of the war.

On 10 November, The New York Times claimed that 50,000 Russian and North Korean soldiers were preparing to launch a large-scale counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

The publication also quoted a senior Ukrainian official as saying that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korea may send up to 100,000 troops to aid Russia.

Background:

• On 7 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk Oblast, Russia, have already suffered losses.
• A record number of North Korean citizens arrived in Russia in the third quarter of 2024, citing "training" as their reason for travel amid reports of North Korean troops being deployed to participate in the war against Ukraine.
• Later, two US officials confirmed that North Korean troops were involved in combat operations in Russia's Kursk Oblast for the first time.
• South Korean intelligence also said that North Korean soldiers, who were previously sent to Russia, are now in Kursk Oblast and are "already engaging in combat" operations against Ukraine.
• The Financial Times reported that North Korea had sent Russia around 50 M1989 Koksan self-propelled howitzers and 20 multiple-launch rocket systems, some of which have been deployed to Kursk Oblast.

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