South Korean intelligence estimates number of North Korean soldiers sent to war against Ukraine at 12,000

The National Intelligence Service of South Korea (NIS) has estimated the number of North Korean (DPRK) military personnel, who are currently undergoing training on the territory of the aggressor country of russia, to be sent to war against Ukraine at 12,000.

This was reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing an unnamed NIS official.

The NIS assessment came after South Korea's president called an emergency security meeting amid growing speculation that North Korea could provide soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

The NIS said Pyongyang recently decided to send four brigades, including special forces units, to participate in the conflict. South Korean intelligence estimated their total number at 12,000 people.

According to the interlocutor of the agency, the mobilization of these troops has already begun.

We will remind you that earlier today, on October 18, The War Zone published an interview with the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In it, he stated that there are currently about 11,000 North Korean servicemen in the east of the russian federation. They are being trained to go to war against Ukraine.

Also today, the head of the intelligence center of the Estonian Defense Forces, Ants Kiviselg, said that the participation of North Korean soldiers will not change the situation at the front.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine said earlier that soldiers from the DPRK could be sent to the territory of the Kursk Oblast.

And according to the words of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which he made on October 14, the inclusion of the DPRK in the war against Ukraine will take place in the fall and winter of this year.