NIS "Monitoring North Korea-Russia Cooperation"... Possibility of North Korea Dispatching Troops to Ukraine

Northern Korean Engineering Unit Heading to Russian Battlefield

As North Korea and Russia move to elevate their relationship to a level comparable to the military alliance during the Soviet era, the possibility of North Korea deploying troops to Ukraine is also being discussed.

The National Intelligence Service stated on the 22nd, "We are closely monitoring the trends of Russia-North Korea cooperation following the conclusion of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement." This agreement is a new treaty signed between North Korea and Russia, triggered by Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to North Korea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left), who is on a state visit to North Korea, and North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un are toasting at a state banquet held in Pyongyang on the 19th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Article 4 of the treaty stipulates that "If either party is subjected to armed invasion by an individual country or multiple countries and enters a state of war, the other party shall, without delay, provide military and other assistance using all means at its disposal in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and the laws of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation." The latter part of the article specifying military assistance aligns with the "automatic military intervention" clause of the 1961 DPRK-Soviet Union Friendship Treaty. Because of this, the relationship is assessed to have been elevated to a level equivalent to a military alliance.

Some speculate that beyond Russia providing military assistance to North Korea, there is also a scenario where North Korean troops could be deployed to Russian battlefields. North Korean forces might be dispatched to Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia, such as Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Heon Seung-su, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "I believe the primary purpose of the North Korea-Russia treaty is to legitimize the illegal cooperation between the two countries related to the Ukraine war." He added, "Some experts in Russia, who highly evaluate the capabilities of North Korean engineering units, have mentioned the possibility of receiving support from North Korean troops for reconstruction in war zones. This was once dismissed as mere imagination but has now become a realistic scenario."