North Korea to send troops to fight with Russia, Seoul says

North Korea has started sending troops to combat with Russia successful Ukraine, South Korea's spy bureau has said arsenic Seoul warned of a "grave information threat".

The allegation comes a time aft Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said helium believed 10,000 North Korean soldiers could articulation the war, based connected quality information.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a information gathering connected Friday and said the planetary assemblage indispensable respond with "all disposable means".

According to the spy agency, 1,500 troops person already arrived successful Russia - with anonymous sources telling South Korean media the last fig could beryllium person to 12,000.

This comes arsenic grounds mounts that North Korea is supplying Russia with ammunition, arsenic precocious demonstrated by the betterment of a rocket successful Ukraine’s Poltava region.

Moscow and Pyongyang person besides been deepening their practice successful caller months. Last week, North Korean person Kim Jong Un greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin connected his birthday, calling him his "closest comrade".

Friday's information gathering was attended by cardinal officials from South Korea's National Security Office, the Ministry of National Defence, and the National Intelligence Service, Yoon's bureau said.

"[The participants] decided not to disregard the concern and to jointly respond to it with the planetary assemblage utilizing each disposable means," it said.

The allegation from the National Intelligence Service comes days aft Ukrainian subject quality sources said that Russia's service is forming a portion of North Koreans.

The BBC has reached retired to the NIS for comment.

Earlier this week, Putin introduced a measure to ratify a subject pact helium made with Kim, which pledges that Russia and North Korea volition assistance each different successful the lawsuit of "aggression" against either country.

South Korea's spy agency, the NIS, said North Korean troops are grooming successful Russian bases successful Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, and Vlagoveshensk.

This appears to corroborate accusation from a subject root successful Russia’s Far East, who told BBC Russian this week that “a fig of North Koreans person arrived” and were stationed successful 1 of the subject bases adjacent Ussuriysk.

Seoul's spy bureau besides released aerial photographs of Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk, wherever they accidental hundreds of North Korean troops person gathered, and different photograph of North Korea's Chongjin port, wherever a Russian vessel was reportedly shown carrying North Korean soldiers.

The NIS said it recovered that since August, North Korea has sent 13,000 shipping containers carrying shells, missiles, and anti-armour rockets to Russia.

As galore arsenic 8 cardinal 122-mm and 152-mm shells person been supplied to Russia, it said.

However, immoderate subject experts judge the Russian subject units volition person difficulties incorporating North Korean troops into their frontlines.

Apart from the connection barrier, the North Korean service has nary caller acquisition of combat operations, they said.

“They could defender immoderate sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would escaped Russian units for warring elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, exertion of the Ukrainian work Defence Express.

“I would regularisation retired the anticipation that these units volition instantly look connected the beforehand line.”

Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee successful Seoul