NORTH KOREAN TROOPS IN RUSSIA: DEPLOYMENT AND POW ROW

More than 8.000 North Korean troops are currently stationed on Russian territory, with preparations under way to deploy a further 10.000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on 29 September 2026, citing what he described as new intelligence data (Korea Times). The figures arrived alongside a separate and rapidly escalating diplomatic dispute: Seoul has demanded a formal apology from Kyiv after Zelenskyy publicly disclosed the confidential transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, a disclosure Seoul says violated a non-disclosure agreement and was then compounded by Ukraine's denial that any such agreement existed.

North Korean Troops In Russia: The Latest Figures

Zelenskyy stated that the soldiers currently in Russia are being supplemented by a new cohort of 10.000 troops being selected for training before onward deployment (TRT World). The Ukrainian President had previously, in August 2026, estimated that up to 50.000 North Korean soldiers could ultimately be sent to fight alongside Russian forces, a figure he has not revised downwards. He characterised the expanding deployment as illustrating 'how evil encroaches', according to reporting by The Independent. The latest data point raises the total number of North Korean personnel acknowledged by Kyiv to be operating on Russian soil to a level that, if confirmed independently, would represent a substantial foreign military contribution to Russia's war effort.

South Korea announced a $100 million aid package for Ukraine in July 2026, and Zelenskyy has separately called on Seoul to provide support for Ukraine's air defence systems (Korea Times). The troop deployment figures and the appeal for South Korean military assistance form part of a broader Ukrainian effort to internationalise the consequences of North Korea's involvement in the conflict. Whether Seoul will respond to that appeal now sits against the backdrop of the diplomatic friction generated by the prisoner-of-war disclosure.

The POW Transfer Dispute Between Kyiv And Seoul

How The Disclosure Occurred

The transfer of two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia became public knowledge through Zelenskyy's address to the United Nations General Assembly (hereinafter: UNGA), where he announced that the prisoners had been handed over to South Korea (Japan Times). Essydo's coverage of the UNGA's fourth day provides additional context on the broader diplomatic activity surrounding that session (Essydo). The public announcement was made without prior coordination with Seoul, according to South Korea's presidential office, and the manner of the disclosure — at a high-profile multilateral forum — amplified its political sensitivity for the South Korean government.

Seoul's Accusations And Demand For An Apology

South Korea's presidential office issued a statement, quoted by Reuters and reported across multiple outlets, demanding that Ukraine apologise for the disclosure (Meduza). Seoul's office characterised the situation as 'deeply regrettable' and accused Ukraine of breaching a confidentiality agreement that had governed the transfer (ABC News Australia). The presidential office went further, accusing Ukraine of falsely claiming that no non-disclosure agreement had been in place, a denial that Seoul says is factually incorrect. The dual accusation, breach of the agreement and subsequent misrepresentation of its existence, forms the core of Seoul's grievance.

Ukraine has not, according to the available sources, issued a public retraction or apology as of the time of reporting. The dispute places Kyiv in the position of having to manage relations with a partner state, whose cooperation it has actively sought, at a moment when the military stakes of North Korean involvement in Russia are, by Kyiv's own account, growing. South Korea, for its part, faces domestic and regional sensitivities around any public acknowledgement of direct engagement with North Korean military personnel, which helps explain why the transfer was conducted under a confidentiality arrangement in the first place (Deutsche Welle).

Significance Of North Korean Military Involvement

The presence of North Korean troops in Russia and the prospect of further deployments carry implications for the states most directly affected by the Korean Peninsula's security architecture. South Korea's intelligence services and government have previously confirmed the deployment of North Korean personnel to Russia, and Seoul's $100 million aid package to Ukraine reflects a policy of indirect engagement with the conflict. The POW transfer itself, however sensitive its disclosure, demonstrated a degree of operational cooperation between Kyiv and Seoul that had not previously been made public. That cooperation now faces strain at precisely the moment Zelenskyy is seeking to expand it.

The troop figures Zelenskyy cited, more than 8.000 already present, 10.000 more in preparation, have not been independently verified by the sources available. North Korea and Russia have not publicly confirmed the scale of the deployment. Kyiv's interest in publicising these numbers is to sustain international attention on what it characterises as a multilateral military coalition supporting Russia, and to press partner states, including South Korea, for greater material support.

What Comes Next

The immediate procedural question is whether Ukraine will respond formally to Seoul's demand for an apology, and on what terms. South Korea has not indicated it will suspend or reduce its existing aid commitments pending that response, but the presidential office's public statement — issued through official channels and quoted by international wire services — sets a threshold that Kyiv will need to address. The broader question of whether South Korea will expand its support for Ukraine's air defence, as Zelenskyy has requested, is now entangled with the resolution of this diplomatic episode. Meanwhile, the reported preparation of a further 10.000 North Korean troops for deployment to Russia suggests that the military dimension of this story will continue to develop independently of the bilateral diplomatic dispute.

Our analysis indicates that South Korea will unlikely cut cooperation with Ukraine completely over this incident. However, it does need to counterbalance this development as Russia and North Korea will be more aware of this cooperation; so, a reduction of cooperative initiatives is to be expected. On the other hand, the likely deployment of North Korean troops in Russia further underlines the recruitment and resource issues of Russia that we pointed out in previous coverage, as well as our monthly Global Risk Report.