A rocket attack near Donetsk brings to light: North Korea is supporting Russia in the Ukraine war not only with weapons and ammunition – but also with soldiers.
A Ukrainian attack on Russian troops near the occupied city of Donetsk has left over 20 dead and several injured. Among the victims were not only Russian soldiers, but also six North Koreans who died in the missile attack. Three others were injured. The Ukrainian one Kyiv Post and the news agency Interfax Ukraine reported at the weekend about the incident, which the South Korean side has now classified as “very likely”. South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told parliament in Seoul on Tuesday that the June agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang “resembles a military alliance.” Therefore, it could well be possible that North Korea has soldiers in the Ukraine war has sent.
There were already reports last year about the deployment of North Korean military personnel. In July, the North Korean state news agency reported KCNA for the first time that the president of the Kim Il-sung Military University had left the country for Russia along with a delegation of military advisers. It is unknown whether the victims of the Ukrainian rocket attack on Donetsk were members of this delegation. There was no confirmation from North Korea for the weekend’s reports.
North Korea is supporting Russia in the Ukraine war with weapons and ammunition
The dictator’s regime Kim Jong-un openly supports Russia’s war of aggression. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Kim and Putin have already met twice and high-level delegations regularly travel back and forth between the two countries. The climax of this war diplomacy was a summit between Kim and Putin in Pyongyang in June, at which the treaty that South Korea’s defense minister described as a “military alliance” was signed. In this treaty, the two countries guarantee mutual military support in the event of war.
According to intelligence reports from South Korea and the USA, the Kim regime has been supplying the Russians with weapons and ammunition since the beginning of 2022. Parts made by North Korea are repeatedly discovered on the battlefields of Ukraine. What Kim will receive from Putin in return is unclear. However, experts suspect that Russia supplies North Korea with fuel, food and foreign currency. “Russia is also an important partner when it comes to smuggling components and knowledge for the North Korean nuclear weapons and space program and supporting it financially,” said expert Betty Suh in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA.
North Korea threatens the South with using nuclear weapons
Kim threatened South Korea with using nuclear weapons on Monday. “All military means will be used without hesitation when enemies try to use force against our country, and the use of nuclear weapons will not be ruled out,” Kim said loudly KCNA while attending a military university named after him.
There are increasing voices in South Korea to support Ukraine with weapons. South Korea is one of the world’s largest arms producers and has so far only supplied Ukraine’s allies, such as Poland and the United States, with tanks, artillery shells and other military equipment. However, the alliance between Kim and Putin has led to a rethink. “I believe that support for the defense and restoration of a country that has been unlawfully attacked under both international and domestic law knows no bounds,” South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said in the spring. (sh)
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