North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paraded new military drones amid reports that he has sent an additional 3,000 troops to help Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Pyongyang released images on March 27 showing Kim inspecting tests of reconnaissance and attack drones at an undisclosed location. There has been international concern that Russia is providing North Korea with drone technology in return for substantial military aid.
The same day Kim inspected the new drones, South Korea’s publicly owned Yonhap news agency cited the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in Seoul as saying that "it appears that some 3,000 or more [North Korean troop] have been additionally dispatched [to Russia] in January and February,"
The reported new troop deployment follows an earlier 11,000-strong contingent Pyongyang sent that has seen action in Russia’s Kursk region
“We can say that Russia is already becoming dependent on North Korea in many ways, not only in terms of shells, but also in terms of other weapons...as well as in terms of soldiers," Ukrainian analyst Oleh Saakyan told RFE/RL’s Current Time.
The dispatch of additional troops was first reported in late February, but without details of numbers.
The new developments come as Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told state media that plans were being made for Kim to visit Moscow later this year.
Kim has previously visited Moscow, traveling by armored train, in 2019 and 2023 for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has made multiple trips to China and also held summits with US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.
There has been a substantial warming in relations between Moscow and Pyongyang since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
As well as sending troops, North Korea has also sent short-range missiles, self-propelled howitzers and rocket launchers, according to the South Korean military.
"In reality, the state of the Russian economy and Russia's mobilization needs are becoming more and more difficult to meet, just like in Ukraine,” said Saakyan, a co-founder of Ukraine’s National Platform for Resilience and Cohesion, a non-profit group.
“We can already see that more and more weapons from North Korea are appearing on the front line.”
The JCS assessed that the new deployment also included additional equipment and ammunition.
It comes as Russia has demanded that Western countries stop providing military aid to Ukraine as a condition for a partial cease-fire.
Last month, Kim said his forces would continue supporting Russia as part of a “comprehensive strategic partnership.”
The military deployment to Russia began last autumn. At first it did not go well, with reports of heavy casualties as North Korean troops struggled to cope with attacks by Ukrainian drones.
In late January, a Ukrainian military intelligence official told Current Time that North Korean troops had been rotated away from the front line amid “big losses.”
Ukraine’s special operations command told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that North Korean troops “were forced to retreat."
But lately, their performance appears to have improved. North Korean forces have been credited with playing a role in pushing Ukrainian forces back in recent battles in the Kursk region.
Their role in the fighting has raised concerns in South Korea that Kim’s forces are gaining valuable battlefield experience. There’s also been disquiet over the prospect of technology transfers from Moscow to Pyongyang.
North Korean state media reported on March 27 that Kim was satisfied with the new drones and said production would be boosted as drones and artificial intelligence became top priorities.
South Korean military spokesman Lee Sung Joon said a showcased drone may have used certain components from Russia but that Pyongyang was possibly exaggerating its capabilities.
“It looks quite cumbersome and we assess that it’s likely vulnerable to interception,” he said.
