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More from WorldNorth Korea deepens military ties with Russia<\/p>\nZelensky has warned that Russia could deploy up to 50,000 North Korean troops, saying Pyongyang is gaining experience in modern warfare through the conflict. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia could deploy between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean troops, warning that Pyongyang is gaining valuable battlefield experience through its involvement in the war.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said North Korea was \u201cstudying this war\u201d and learning modern warfare techniques under Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he warned could eventually pose a wider security threat in Asia.<\/p>\n
Zelensky seeks South Korea\u2019s air defence support<\/p>\n
In a post on X on Saturday, Zelensky said a decision had been made for \u201c30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia\u201d.<\/p>\n
The estimate is higher than the figure of around 30,000 troops he cited in July. Zelensky did not provide details on the source of the latest assessment.<\/p>\n
He also said Ukraine had recovered North Korean missiles on its territory, though he did not disclose where they were found.<\/p>\n
Zelensky called for closer military cooperation with South Korea, particularly in air defence, an area where Ukraine faces shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would very much like to receive support from South Korea in an area where we have a shortage,\u201d he said, adding that Kyiv was also ready to cooperate with Seoul on drone production and other defence-related projects.<\/p>\n
More from WorldNorth Korea deepens military ties with Russia<\/p>\n
Russia and North Korea have significantly strengthened their military partnership since Putin\u2019s visit to Pyongyang in June 2024.<\/p>\n
During the visit, Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that includes a mutual assistance provision in the event of external aggression against either country.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang has described its military involvement in Russia as support for a treaty partner.<\/p>\n
North Korea is estimated to have sent around 14,000 troops to Russia\u2019s Kursk region in 2024, where they helped Russian forces repel a major Ukrainian incursion.<\/p>\n
North Korean missiles raise concern<\/p>\n
Ukraine has also raised concerns over North Korea\u2019s growing contribution of weapons to Russia.<\/p>\n
A Ukrainian military intelligence official told Reuters earlier this month that a North Korean missile unit had begun deploying to western Russia. The unit could reportedly be equipped with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers capable of striking Ukrainian targets.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is facing shortages of advanced air defence systems, while Russia has increasingly used ballistic missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept.<\/p>\n
North Korea has also supplied Russia with millions of artillery and mortar shells, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems, according to Ukrainian and independent assessments.<\/p>\n
Fresh attacks reported as fighting continues<\/p>\n
Zelensky\u2019s remarks came amid continued Russian and Ukrainian strikes.<\/p>\n
Four people, including a child, were killed in Russian attacks on Kyiv and surrounding areas on Saturday, while Ukraine struck another oil refinery in Russia.<\/p>\n
In Russia\u2019s Belgorod region, five people were killed and 25 others injured in overnight attacks, according to the regional operational headquarters.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said Russian forces also targeted several Ukrainian regions, including Odesa, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk.<\/p>\n
Zelensky meets Serbia\u2019s Vucic<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian president made the remarks while meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.<\/p>\n
Vucic reiterated Serbia\u2019s support for Ukraine\u2019s territorial integrity, as both countries seek closer ties with the European Union.<\/p>\n
The developments come as Ukraine and Russia continue fighting ahead of planned diplomatic talks, with Kyiv also seeking greater international support for its air defence capabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zelensky has warned that Russia could deploy up to 50,000 North Korean troops, saying Pyongyang is gaining experience…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31,7490,34,58515,7299,137,33,130,51179],"class_list":["post-113788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-korea","tag-military-cooperation","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korean-troops-russia","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-south-korea","tag-ukraine","tag-zelensky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}