North Korea reportedly sends 30,000 more troops to aid Russia as early as July

CNN reported that according to Ukrainian intelligence assessment, North Korea is expected to send an additional 25,000 to 30,000 troops in the next few months to assist Russia in attacking Ukraine, which is three times the current number of troops North Korea is sending to Russia. This move is an important signal of the development of the Russian-Ukrainian war and also shows that the North Korean leader has further increased his support for Moscow. However, experts believe that this estimated force is too high and will not be elite troops.

According to the report, South Korean lawmaker Lee Sung-kwon said that the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) briefed the Congress that North Korea has begun selecting personnel for overseas deployment and will deploy as early as July or August. Russia has announced that another batch of 6,000 North Korean soldiers will join. It is not yet known whether the NIS agrees with Ukraine’s assessment of up to 30,000 North Korean troops.

According to the assessment report obtained by CNN, the additional troops may arrive in Russia in the next few months, joining the 11,000 North Korean soldiers who went to Russia in November last year. A Western intelligence official also gave the same scale of additional estimates based on different information sources.

The report pointed out that the Russian Ministry of Defense has the ability to provide “necessary equipment, weapons and ammunition” in order to “further integrate North Korean troops into Russian combat units.” The document pointed out that these North Korean troops are “very likely” to participate in combat operations in the Russian-occupied areas “to strengthen the Russian army, including during large-scale offensives.”

Jenny Town, a senior researcher at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, pointed out that Ukraine’s assessment of adding up to 30,000 North Korean soldiers is “a bit high… but North Korea does have the ability to make up this number. These people will not be elite troops.” He believes that 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers “sound more realistic” and that North Korea may gradually send troops in stages.

According to a report by Central News Agency citing AFP, the Russian military claimed on the 3rd that the Russian army had occupied the village of Milove in Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, opening a new front on the border between Russia and Ukraine.

The village of Merovoye is located in a section of the border that has never been broken through since the Russian army launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. Hundreds of people lived there before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen welcomed the visiting Ukrainian President Zelensky on the 3rd and said that Denmark will do its best to help Kiev join the European Union.

Frederiksen, who has always supported Ukraine, said at the handover ceremony when Denmark officially took over the rotating presidency of the European Union: “During Denmark’s term as the rotating presidency of the European Union, it will do its best to assist Ukraine in obtaining EU membership.”

Zelensky’s visit to Denmark at this time coincided with the United States’ announcement that it would stop providing certain weapons to Ukraine. The Danish government said that the two sides will discuss increasing military support, expanding cooperation with Ukraine’s defense industry, and imposing a new round of sanctions on Russia.