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North Korean state media said on Friday that senior North Korean and Russian military officials discussed strengthening cooperation in their latest talks in Pyongyang this week, as the two countries continue to unite over Russia’s war. ukraine,
The report comes days after South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that it had detected signs of recruitment and training activities in North Korea, possibly in preparation for additional military deployments to Russia.
North Korean officials Korean Central News Agency North Korean officials led by Pak Yong Il, deputy director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, held talks on Wednesday with a Russian delegation led by Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Goremykin.
KCNA said the two sides discussed enhancing cooperation in line with the “deep bilateral relations” developed under the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir PutinThe report did not mention any specific agreements. KCNA also said Goremykin’s delegation met separately with North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on Thursday.
Asked whether North Korean and Russian officials might have discussed the deployment of additional North Korean troops to Russia, South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Chang Eun-jeong said Seoul was closely monitoring the situation but would not speculate.
The North Korean-Russian meetings came days after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited South Korea on Tuesday for annual security talks between the allies, and he praised South Korean plans to increase its military spending in the face of threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and other regional uncertainties.
According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent about 15,000 troops to Russia since last autumn and also a large amount of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Kim has also agreed to send thousands of military construction workers and destroyers to the Kursk region of Russia.
In its briefing to lawmakers on Tuesday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it also believed about 5,000 North Korean military construction troops were moving to Russia in stages from September for possible deployment in infrastructure restoration projects.