South Korea publishes evidence of DPRK troops in Russia and identifies one soldier – media, photos
According to a South Korean government source, one of the three photos that South Korean intelligence released as evidence of the deployment of DPRK troops in Russia was taken by a satellite used by South Korea.
Source: South Korean agency Yonhap news; Japanese news agency NHK with reference to South Korean Defence Intelligence
Details: According to Yonhap News, which released the satellite photographs, the DPRK has agreed to send approximately 12,000 troops to Russia to bolster its war against Ukraine and has already deployed 1,500 special forces in Vladivostok.
Airbus, a major producer of satellite photography, took two of the three photographs, but the third has yet to be identified.
Quote: "The unattributed photo was taken by a satellite that we've been operating," the South Korean government source said on Sunday.
According to the news agency, the photo appears to have been obtained via satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radars (SAR), which can collect data in any weather utilising remote sensing technologies.
South Korea carefully monitors North Korea's moves via government and military-operated satellites.
According to the Japanese news outlet NHK, citing the South Korean intelligence service, South Korea has identified a North Korean missile engineer who helped fire a Russian missile on the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said on 18 October that the missile engineer is most likely the same individual who accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an ammunition facility visit last year.
The Intelligence Service analysed a photograph that was likely taken near Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast at an unknown date. It is believed that this place is the launch site of North Korean short-range ballistic missiles. Facial recognition technology reportedly suggested with an 80% certainty that the person in the photo is an engineer who accompanied Kim Jong Un last August during a visit to a plant that makes mobile launchers for missiles.
South Korean intelligence reports that North Korean engineers sent as reinforcements to Russian troops in Ukraine appear to be "supporting launches of North Korean-made weapons, while also seeking out new technologies".
Previously: On 18 October, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported that North Korea sent 1,500 special forces troops to help Russia's war efforts in Ukraine. They have arrived in Russia.
Background:
- On 8 October, South Korea's Ministry of Defence reported that North Korea is likely to send some of its regular armed forces to the battlefield in Ukraine in support of Russia.
- On 12 October, the Institute for the Study of War reported that several thousand North Korean soldiers were being trained in Russia and might be deployed to Ukraine.
- On 13 October, President Zelenskyy stated that North Korea was supplying Russia not only with weapons but also with military personnel, and called on partners to increase aid for Ukraine. On 14 October, in his evening address, Zelenskyy announced that North Korea had de facto entered the war. On 16 October, Zelenskyy added that North Korea was also supplying Russia with people to work at Russian factories. On 17 October, Zelenskyy specified that Russia intended to involve about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea in the war against Ukraine.
- On 18 October, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that approximately 11,000 North Korean infantry troops are currently being trained in Russia’s east. They are expected to be ready for combat against Ukraine by 1 November.
- On 20 October, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that he could not confirm reports indicating that North Korea had sent troops to Russia to join the war against Ukraine.
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