Head of Defense Ministry of South Korea says that DPRK will probably send its troops to Ukraine to support russia

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has said that North Korea is likely to send members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine to support russia.

He said this during parliamentary hearings, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reports.

The announcement comes as North Korea seeks to strengthen ties with russia, as evidenced by a bilateral agreement that includes a mutual defense clause signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and russian president vladimir putin at talks on the highest level in June.

"Since russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty similar to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is very likely," the South Korean Defense Minister said.

He also added that a recent report of North Korean military casualties in russian-occupied territory near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is also likely to be true.

Last week, several Ukrainian media, citing intelligence sources, reported that six North Korean officers were killed and three more were wounded as a result of a Ukrainian missile attack on October 3.

Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, also said that North Korea had sent military to Ukraine, some of whom had already been killed.

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