TAIPEI, Taiwan – North Korean forces deployed to Russia’s Kursk have not yet been involved in Moscow’s attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the region, said a senior official at Ukraine’s national security agency, contradicting reports from the United States and South Korea.
Both Washington and Seoul said early this week that North Korean troops had been fighting against Ukrainian forces in Kursk. The U.S. estimated more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to the region, and they had begun engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces.
“The North Korean military has not yet been involved in assault operations, but they are positioned in place,” said Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, or NSDC.
The NSDC is a state agency tasked with developing and coordinating security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president.
A recent probe by Russian forces against Ukrainian positions in Kursk was unsuccessful and they had lost equipment and troops, said Kovalenko.
He added, however, that the Russian army still had the capacity for further assaults in Kursk.
The contradictory accounts have emerged against a backdrop of silence from both Russia and North Korea about the North Korean deployment.
The Kremlin has not commented on the presence of North Korean troops. At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council last week, Russia declined to answer questions from the U.S about its deployment of North Koreans.
North Korea’s state media reported in October that its vice foreign minister in charge of Russian affairs, Kim Jong Gyu, said he had heard a “rumor” spread by foreign media that troops had been sent to Russia, but declined to confirm it.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, which oversees inter-Korean relations, said on Thursday that the North has not informed its citizens about the deployment of troops to Russia.
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North Korean artillery system in Russia
Photos showing what appeared to be a North Korean artillery system on a rail car have been posted in Russian media, and are circulating on social media, alongside a claim they were spotted in Russia.
The photos show equipment that resembles a North Korean long-range 170 mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery system.
Radio Free Asia has not been able to independently verify the location of the photo or when it was taken but a reverse image search shows it was likely taken in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk, about 4,400 kilometers (2,700 miles) away from Kursk, where North Korean soldiers are reportedly amassed to assist Russian forces.
The M1989 Koksan is a code name for a North Korean 40-ton self-propelled artillery system that was first seen at a parade in the North Korean city of Koksan in 1989. It is a development of the M1978 system, which was developed in the 1970s.
Ukrainian partisans have previously said that Russian artillerymen were training on North Korean self-propelled artillery systems.
It was also reported that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the purchase of ammunition and M-1989s from the North when he visited Pyongyang in July last year.
Russian embassy to Pyongyang’s fundraiser
The Russian Embassy in North Korea announced a fundraiser on Thursday to support forces fighting in Kursk.
In a Facebook post titled “Koreans going to the Kursk region,” the embassy highlighted the efforts of a sports utility vehicle named “Varyag,” that the embassy funded this year, which has been used to deliver food and water to the front lines and evacuate casualties.
The embassy did not explicitly say North Korean forces were going to Kursk but said it was fitting to associate the proud name of “Koreans” with the heroic “Varyag.”
The embassy said the Russian military needed new vehicles, but South Korean media speculated it was possible that the vehicles or donations the embassy raises could support North Korean troops fighting in Russia.
Edited by Mike Firn.
