North Korean troops helping Putin pose ‘serious’ threat to world, Seoul says – POLITICO

South Korea’s spy service said Friday it believes North Korea has already begun sending four brigades totaling 12,000 troops, including special forces, to the war in Ukraine.

Separately, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service also shared the agency’s assessment that nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops are currently being trained in Russia to fight in Ukraine. “They will be ready on November 1,” Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone.

The North Korean troops would use Russian equipment and ammunition, Budanov said. The first cadre of 2,600 troops will go to Kursk, Russia, where Ukraine launched a surprise invasion in late summer, but it is unclear where the remaining North Korean troops will be stationed, he added.

In June, Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that requires both countries to provide each other with military assistance if either country is attacked.