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North Korea is reportedly preparing to escalate its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict by dispatching additional troops and a significant number of weapons, including a large stockpile of suicide drones.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, recent intelligence suggests Pyongyang’s growing military support for Moscow in exchange for economic aid and strategic leverage.
North Korea has already supplied Russia with over 10,000 containers of military equipment, including 240mm multiple rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled howitzers.
Among these, suicide drones have emerged as a top priority, with orders for mass production from North Korea’s military industry.
Currently, around 12,000 North Korean soldiers are reportedly operating in Russia, primarily elite troops from the “Storm Corps,” a special forces unit.
These troops first engaged Ukrainian forces in November 2024 and captured their first village, Plekhov, in the Kursk region by early December.
However, the combat has taken a heavy toll: over 100 North Korean soldiers have been killed, and more than 1,000 injured, depleting nearly 10% of their deployed forces in just one month.
