Days after the South Korean Intelligence Department claimed that North Korean troops were deployed to fight Ukraine, a report from South Korean media claimed that Pyongyang may have sent its fighter pilots to Russia.

Meanwhile, a powerful image of Russian and North Korean flags flying side-by-side in the warzone has surfaced online. The image was reportedly posted on Telegram on October 20.

According to social media claims, Russia raised the two flags near Tsukuryne in the Donetsk region. Although unverified, the claims found widespread coverage in the South Korean media, including the Yonhap News Agency. 

The photo, which has sparked outrage on social media since it was posted, provides the most vivid imagery of cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Although North Korea has sent smaller units abroad to generate foreign exchange in the past, this deployment is the first time North Korea has transferred ground forces (and maybe pilots, too) to participate in combat operations alongside an ally.

As the image went viral, Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Centre for  Countering Disinformation, warned that the Kremlin was amplifying the North Korean narrative as ‘fear propaganda.’ He said: “There will be stories about flags, regardless of whether they were hung somewhere or photoshopped and how long they have been hanging.”

The development comes days after South Korea alleged last week that North Korea has already committed roughly 1,500 special forces to Russia’s Far East and plans to send another 12,000 to aid Russia in its protracted conflict with Ukraine, based on the reports from the National Intelligence Service of the Republic of Korea.

The figures have been revised since, with South Korean lawmakers saying on October 23 that at least 3,000 North Korean troops had reached Russia.

These claims have been denied by Pyongyang. However, a video recently posted to social media showed North Korean troops receiving uniforms and equipment at a training ground in Russia’s Far East. EurAsian Times could not verify its date and location.

Moreover, for the first time since the allegations were first made by Seoul, the United States said that it has evidence that confirms that North Korean troops have indeed reached Russia.

“There is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters.

Amid rising tensions between the two Koreas and fears that North Korea could leverage its support for the Kremlin to obtain sophisticated and advanced missile, satellite, and nuclear technology from Russia, the South Korean administration has launched a fiery admonishment of Pyongyang’s decision.

Vice South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun denounced the deployment in a meeting with Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev and demanded the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia.

The South Korean minister “condemned in the strongest terms” North Korea’s troop deployment, which he stated poses “a grave security threat” to his country as well as the international community.

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Neither North Korea nor Russia appear to be interested in heeding Seoul’s calls for pulling out troops.

North Korea’s military relations with Russia, which were previously restricted to the provision of artillery rounds and short-range ballistic missiles, have undergone a significant shift with the deployment of such a sizable contingent of personnel.

The deployment may have resulted from the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2024. The treaty resurrects a 1961 Soviet-era pact that was scrapped after the collapse of the Soviet Union and states that North Korea and Russia will immediately provide “military and other assistance” if either of them is attacked.

The “alleged” deployment of North Korean troops has not just earned the West and Seoul’s derision; it has also opened the possibility of South Korea providing arms and advisors to Ukraine after more than two years of sustained reticence. 

South Korean Arms For Ukraine

A senior presidential official told reporters that sending offensive and defensive arms to Ukraine is one option, Yonhap reported.

“There is a possibility that personnel will be sent to Ukraine to monitor the tactics and combat capabilities of North Korean special forces dispatched in support of Russia,” the agency reported, citing an unknown source. “If deployed, the team is expected to be composed of military personnel from intelligence units, who could analyze North Korean battlefield tactics or take part in interrogations of captured North Koreans.”

“While looking at scenarios by phases, defensive weapons support could be considered,” the official told the South Korean publication. “And if it surpasses a limit, offensive (weapons) could also be considered in the end.”

The Seoul government has not commented on this issue so far. The statement, nevertheless, follows reports in June that Seoul was contemplating supplying weapons to Ukraine in the wake of the pact signed between Moscow and Pyongyang.

The report recently published in South Korean media stated that among the defensive weaponry Seoul could offer Ukraine is “the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which could help Ukraine bolster its air defenses.”

This system, often referred to as the Medium-range Surface-to-Air Missile, or M-SAM, is already in use in South Korea and is designed to eliminate threats from lower-tier ballistic missiles. It would help protect the Ukrainian cities against regular Russian aerial strikes.

The report further posited that the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia “raises the possibility that South Korea could opt to directly supply artillery shells to Ukraine depending on the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” according to Yonhap.

“Other possible weapons systems that might be considered include South Korea’s homegrown K9 self-propelled howitzers, K2 main battle tanks, and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.”

So far, South Korea has been reluctant to send arms to Ukraine directly due to its long-held policy of not arming states involved in active conflicts. Despite enhanced pressure from NATO partners, Seoul managed to stay adamant about not sending lethal weapons to Kyiv.

While reports have noted that Seoul indirectly supplied 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine via the United States, no direct shipments were made.

North Korean Pilots In Russia?

South Korea’s reversal in policy may come after its adversary, across the 38th Parallel, “supplied” ballistic missiles and troops to Russia.

Moreover, South Korea’s TV Chosun news outlet alleged that Pyongyang sent fighter pilots to Russia’s Far East in September for training on Russian combat jets ahead of the deployment of its troops.

The report said this could relate to training on Russian combat jets supplied to North Korea. However, it could not rule out that Russia, which suffered a shortage of pilots during the Ukraine War, had requested help from Pyongyang.

Ex-IAF fighter pilot and expert on Russian defense Vijainder K Thakur responded by saying that the idea that DPRK (North Korean) pilots could take part in Russia’s ongoing Special Military Operations is ridiculous. Nations send their fighter pilots to train abroad all the time, either when inducting new aircraft or for an exercise aimed at sharing best practices.

DPRK Air Force operates obsolete fighter aircraft that are not in service with the Russian Air Force. It’s estimated that DPRK has around 35 MiG-29s in service, but these were acquired during the late 1980s and early 1990s when the nation had a security pact with the Soviet Union.

Following the signing of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June between Russia and the DPRK, President Putin said, “We reserve the right to supply arms to other regions of the world. “Bearing in mind our agreements with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, I don’t rule this out.” Under the circumstances, it’s likely that DPRK pilots are in Russia to train on either a new Russian fighter that the DPRK is set to acquire or to train on upgraded MiG-29s still in service with the Russian forces while getting their MiG-29 fleet upgraded in Russia. If they have flown in with their own MiG-29s, it’s likely that they brought in their fighters for servicing and upgrade.

With the two Koreas now aiding opposing sides of the Ukraine War, analysts have labeled it as a proxy war between the Koreas as the peninsula remains tense.

Chris Park, a research assistant and the program coordinator for the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said earlier: “With South Korea providing artillery shells to Ukraine via the United States and North Korea directly sending weapons to Russia, you get a situation where the two Koreas are engaged in what’s essentially a proxy war 5,000 miles away from the peninsula.”

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