Ukrainian intelligence services have released audio of what they claim is Russian troops complaining about the arrival of North Korean fighters and bickering about how they will be equipped.
In one recording, several soldiers can be heard complaining about the so-called ‘K Battalion’, referring to them as ‘fucking Chinese’ and saying that one of his fellow soldiers had said ‘who knows what the f***ing Chinese’ **we have to deal with them’.
Another clip obtained by the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service (GUR) appeared to reveal the lack of communication and planning regarding the integration of North Korean troops with their Russian counterparts.
“He was just talking about the K battalion, I say: ‘And who gets the weapons and ammunition for them?’ We have rations, and from what I hear they’re for the brigade,” groaned one Russian soldier.
“He said: ‘What fucking brigade?’ You get everything.” I just said I understood everything and went outside to smoke.’
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the alarm that troops from Pyongyang could be sent to the front lines as early as Sunday to fight defenders of Kiev.
The Russian lower house of parliament has now unanimously ratified a defence treaty with North Korea that was signed between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un during the Russian president’s state visit to the North Korean capital in June.
Leaked video shows North Korean troops in Russia equipped with military equipment
A Russian soldier fires from the D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions at a secret location in Ukraine
Ukraine’s president has warned that North Korea’s involvement could accelerate the outbreak of World War III
Putin and Kim clash during former’s visit to Pyongyang
South Korea has called on Russia to end its “illegal cooperation” with Pyongyang and expressed “serious concerns” this morning after Moscow ratified its defense pact, which stipulates that each side will offer assistance if the other is confronted with aggression.
The agreement will now be sent to the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, for approval.
Shortly after Seoul’s warning, Zelensky said Russia planned to send North Korean troops into battle with his country as early as Sunday and urged world leaders to exert “tangible pressure” on Pyongyang.
South Korea and the United States said thousands of North Korean troops were training in Russia.
Ukraine said this week that North Korean soldiers had arrived in the “combat zone” in Russia’s Kursk border region.
While North Korea would not confirm that it had taken action, it said any deployment of troops to Russia would be consistent with international law.
“(Seoul) expresses serious concern over Russia’s ratification of the Russia-North Korea Treaty amid the continued deployment of North Korean troops in Russia,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It added that the South Korean government “strongly urges the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and an end to illegal cooperation.”
Seoul said it would work with allies to take “appropriate measures” against the move, and the country – a major arms exporter – has suggested it may revise its long-standing policy of preventing weapons from being sent directly to Kiev.
Zelenskiy said after a meeting with defense officials on Friday that North Korean troops could be deployed to fight Ukrainian forces this weekend.
“According to intelligence reports, Russia will deploy the first North Korean army to combat areas on October 27-28,” he said on social media.
“North Korea’s actual involvement in hostilities should not be viewed with a blind eye and confusing remarks, but with tangible pressure on both Moscow and Pyongyang to uphold the UN Charter and the escalation of sanctions,” he added.
A senior official in the Ukrainian president’s office said North Korean troops could be deployed to combat in Russia’s Kursk region or in eastern Ukraine.
Putin said in an interview broadcast on state television on Friday that it was up to Moscow how to use the treaty’s clause on mutual military assistance.
“What action we take with this clause is still under discussion. “We are in contact with our North Korean friends,” Putin said.
“I mean to say that it is our sovereign decision whether we use something or not. Where, how, whether we need it, or (if) we just do some exercises, training, pass on some experience – that is our business,” he added.
Seoul and Washington have long alleged that the nuclear-armed North is sending large shipments of weapons to Russia.
One of North Korea’s representatives to the United Nations told the UN General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament and International Security that the country has sent neither weapons nor soldiers to help Moscow.
The accusations by South Korea and others are “nothing more than unfounded rumors aimed at tarnishing the image of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Rim Mu Song said, referring to the North by its official name.
“It is another smear campaign by Ukraine” to “get more weapons and financial support from the US and Western countries.”
North Korean soldiers are seen smashing concrete blocks during a demonstration for Kim and senior officialsNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un points a gun during a visit to a training base
A new 600mm multiple rocket launcher is being tested at an undisclosed location in North Korea
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un meet in Pyongyang, June 19, 2024
South Korea’s representative flagged videos circulating online of North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms speaking Korean, but Rim said they “completely reject” the accusation of deploying troops.
However, a diplomatic official on Friday argued that Pyongyang would have every right to deploy soldiers on Russian soil.
“If there is something like this that the world media is talking about, I think it will be an act that is in line with the rules of international law,” said Kim Jong Gyu, vice foreign minister in charge of Russian affairs.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called the deployment a “provocation that threatens global security outside the Korean Peninsula and Europe.”
Yoon also said that South Korea would “revise” its position on supplying weapons to Ukraine in the war with Russia, which it has long opposed.
Seoul has already sold billions of dollars’ worth of tanks, howitzers, attack aircraft and rocket launchers to Poland, a key ally of Kiev.
In June, South Korea agreed to transfer the know-how needed to build K2 tanks to Poland, in a move experts say could be a major step toward production in Ukraine.
South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace has signed a $1.64 billion deal with Poland to supply rocket artillery units.
North Korea has adopted a new national anthem, state media reported Friday, a move experts say will reinforce leader Kim Jong Un’s drive to define his country as completely separate from and in opposition to the South.
North Korea amended its constitution to define the South as an “enemy” state and last week blew up roads and railways that once connected the two countries.