N. Korean Advance Unit Possibly Deployed to Russia’s Front Lines: Military.

Seoul: An advance team of North Korean troops may have been deployed to the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine, South Korea's military intelligence agency stated during a regular parliamentary audit. The revelation was made by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to lawmakers, including Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party and Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party. According to Yonhap News Agency, the agency responded to inquiries about foreign news reports suggesting the deployment of North Korean troops to the war's front lines by stating, "There is no precise information yet that the deployed North Korean troops are at the front lines." However, it acknowledged the possibility that some advance units have been sent to the front lines. The DIA indicated that the mobilization of these troops toward battlefields, including the Kursk border region in western Russia, seems imminent. The agency also addressed reports of North Korean casualties on the front lines, noting that it had no information to support such claims. Furthermore, the DIA mentioned that North Korea is expected to seek space-related and advanced military technology from Russia, along with support for modernizing its conventional weapons, as part of their growing military cooperation. The agency disclosed that North Korea has completed internal preparations for a test at its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site. Additionally, the DIA reported that North Korea appears to have finished preparations for launching a long-range ballistic missile, potentially an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North is likely to test-fire this missile around the time of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.