WNAM REPORT: Russia has provided North Korea with anti-air missiles and air defense equipment in exchange for its troop deployment in support of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, South Korea’s top security adviser said Friday.
National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik made the remark as North Korea is believed to have sent more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Russia in the western Kursk border region against Ukraine.
“Russia is believed to have provided equipment and anti-air missiles to strengthen Pyongyang’s vulnerable air defense system,” Shin said in an interview with broadcaster SBS when asked about what the North would be getting from Russia in return for the troop dispatch.
“Following North Korea’s failed military spy satellite launch on May 27, Russia had already declared its intention to support satellite-related technologies (to the North), and it reportedly supplied various military technologies,” Shin said.
“We believe that there has also been economic aid in various forms,” he added.
South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers earlier this week that the troops deployed to Russia are believed to have been assigned to Moscow’s airborne brigade and marine corps on the ground, with some of the soldiers having already entered combat.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that a senior North Korean general was wounded in a Ukrainian strike in the Kursk region.
On the possibility of the Russia-Ukraine war expanding into a wider war, Shin said it was unlikely.
“Especially, it is very difficult for Russia to actually use nuclear weapons,” Shin said.
Shin also downplayed the prospect of an additional troop deployment by the North.
“We cannot completely rule that out, but we have no confirmed information at this stage,” he said.
South Korea’s spy agency briefed lawmakers earlier that the North exported long-range artillery to Russia, including 170-millimeter self-propelled howitzers and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers. This assessment raised speculation that the North could send an additional artillery unit to Russia.
“Russia currently does not have the multiple rocket launcher system and it remains to be seen whether all or part of the operational troops will go, but if all the assigned personnel were to go, it would be around 4,000 people at most,” Shin said.
On the expected visit of a Ukrainian special envoy to South Korea, Shin said he expects the government is in talks with Kyiv to make it happen in the near future.
Shin also stressed that South Korea’s contributions as a U.S. ally have continued to expand and will do so going forward, amid widening speculation that the incoming Donald Trump administration may scrap the defense cost-sharing deal with Seoul and demand more from South Korea for its defense burden.
“We plan to address various issues in a way that further develops the South Korea-U.S. alliance in a healthy manner,” Shin said.
Regarding South Korea’s relations with China, Shin reaffirmed that the ties should develop in a mutually beneficial way and that it is not a matter of choosing between the U.S. and China.
“The South Korea-U.S. alliance and South Korea-China relations are not mutually exclusive,” Shin said. “The stronger our alliance with the U.S. becomes and the greater the solidarity with our value-sharing partners, the more the relationship with China develops in a normal and mature manner.”
