South Korean intelligence says North is sending troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine: reports

South Korean intelligence reports North Korea sent troops to support Russia in Ukraine, raising concerns of global conflict.

South Korean intelligence has found that North Korea has dispatched 12,000 troops including special operation forces to support Russia's war against Ukraine, news reports said on Friday, a development that could bring a third country into the war and intensify a stand-off between North Korea and the West.

Yonhap news agency cited the National Intelligence Service as saying that the North have already left the country, formed into four brigades. Other South Korean media outlets carried similar reports.

If confirmed, it would be North Korea's first major participation in a foreign war. North Korea has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest militaries in the world, but it lacks actual combat experience.

Many experts question how much the North Korean troop dispatch would help Russia, citing North Korea’s outdated equipment and shortage of battle experiences.

Experts also said that North Korea likely received Russian promises to provide security support over the intense confrontations over its advancing nuclear program with the U.S. and South Korea.

During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.

The NIS didn't immediately confirm the report, but South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had presided over an emergency meeting earlier Friday to discuss North Korea’s troop dispatch to Ukraine. The statement said participants of the meeting agreed that North Korea’s troop dispatch poses a grave security threat to South Korea and the international community.