South Korea is considering sending military personnel to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops, Yonhap reports

South Korea is considering sending a personnel team to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troops that Russia could involve in its all-out war, Yonhap Agency reported on October 22, citing an unnamed government source.

“There is a possibility that personnel will be sent to Ukraine to monitor the tactics and combat capabilities of North Korean special forces sent to support Russia,” the source said.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Moscow plans to involve Pyongyang in the large-scale war against Ukraine in the coming months and prepare about 10,000 North Korean soldiers to join the Russian army.

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said the first group of 2,600 troops would be deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine began a cross-border incursion in August and still holds significant territory.

He said nearly 11,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia and would be “battle-ready” in Ukraine by November 1.

In a deployment, a South Korean team may include military personnel from intelligence units capable of analyzing Pyongyang's war tactics or participating in the interrogations of captured North Koreans.

The government is also reportedly considering providing armed support to Ukraine. So far, Seoul has only provided humanitarian aid to Kiev, although it has been reported that the country has supplied artillery shells indirectly through the US

In June, South Korea said it would reconsider its policy of not supplying weapons directly to Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un signed a security agreement in Pyongyang.

“While signs of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia are being observed, countermeasures will be taken gradually,” the source told Yonhap.

The source said that sending defensive weapons takes priority over lethal weapons, adding that even if lethal weapons are provided, South Korea will first consider supplying them indirectly to Kyiv.

While the US has been cautious in confirming Russia's plans to involve Pyongyang in its war, South Korea is sounding the alarm, calling such a scenario a “serious security threat” to the international community.

The South Korean intelligence service (NIS) assumes that North Korea will send four brigades with a total of 12,000 soldiers, including 1,500 special forces, to the war in Ukraine.

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