Earlier this week, Putin introduced a bill to ratify a military pact he made with Kim, which pledges that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.
South Korea’s spy agency, the NIS, said North Korean troops are training in Russian bases in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vlagoveshensk.
This appears to confirm information from a military source in Russia’s Far East, who told BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in one of the military bases near Ussuriysk.
Seoul’s spy agency also released aerial photographs of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, where they say hundreds of North Korean troops have gathered, and another photo of North Korea’s Chongjin port, where a Russian ship was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.
The NIS said it found that since August, North Korea has sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying shells, missiles, and anti-armour rockets to Russia.
As many as eight million 122-mm and 152-mm shells have been supplied to Russia, it said.
However, some military experts believe the Russian military units will have difficulties incorporating North Korean troops into their frontlines.
Apart from the language barrier, the North Korean army has no recent experience of combat operations, they said.
“They could guard some sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would free Russian units for fighting elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, editor of the Ukrainian publication Defence Express.
“I would rule out the possibility that these units will immediately appear on the front line.”
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee in Seoul
