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Seoul says North Korea has deployed more troops to Russia

A South Korean official said North Korean troops had been ‘redeployed’ to the Kursk frontline

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This undated handout photograph released on January 11 shows an alledged North Korean soldier detained by authorities in Ukraine. Handout photo: Telegram/V_Zelenskiy_official/AFP

North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and redeployed several to the frontline in Kursk, Seoul’s spy agency told AFP on Thursday.

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South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said that more than 10,000 soldiers from the reclusive state were sent to Russia last year to help it fight a shock Ukrainian offensive into the Kursk border region.

Seoul said this month North Korean soldiers previously fighting alongside Russia’s army on the Kursk frontline had not been engaged in combat since mid-January.

Ukraine also said they had been withdrawn following heavy losses.

However, an official from Seoul’s National Intelligence Agency said on Thursday they had been “redeployed” there.

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That came alongside “some additional troop deployments appearing to have taken place”, the official added.

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