North Korea may send military construction workers to Russia as early as July or August

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea’s planned dispatch of thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region will likely take place as early as July or August, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Thursday.

After a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang last week, top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu said Kim decided to send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers to help rebuild the war-torn area. North Korea has already provided combat troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine.

On Thursday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the dispatch of those 6,000 additional military personnel will likely come as early as July or August, according to Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

Lee cited the NIS as saying that North Korea has begun recruiting soldiers to be sent to Russia. He told reporters the NIS noted that North Korea’s dispatch of combat troops last year came about one month after Shoigu visited North Korea and signed an agreement with Pyongyang officials.

In April, Pyongyang and Moscow announced that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region. The two countries haven’t disclosed how many North Koreans soldiers have been deployed in Russia, but South Korea, U.S. and Ukraine officials said North Korea last fall sent about 10,000-12,000 troops to Russia. South Korea said North Korea deployed about 3,000-4,000 additional soldiers to Russia earlier this year.

In return for North Korea’s supply of troops and weapons, Russia is believed to have given North Korea military and economic assistance. South Korea, the U.S. and their allies are concerned that Russia could even transfer sensitive technologies that can enhance North Korea’s nuclear program.

In its briefing Thursday, the NIS said it believed Russia has sent North Korea air defense systems, electronic jamming equipment and technological knowhow for space rocket engines, drones and missile guidance as well as unspecified economic help.