Zelenskyy warns again of North Korean troops on second day: "Putin preparing mass mobilization and additional troop deployment"

[Financial News] In a national address on the 11th local time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, "I believe Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he can prolong the war through additional mobilization and the deployment of North Korean troops."
Zelenskyy claimed that Russia is preparing a large-scale troop mobilization after the State Duma election in September. "After the election, Russia plans to quickly mobilize hundreds of thousands of additional Russians, and it intends to mobilize a similar number next year," he said. "This has been confirmed through internal Russian documents."
If Ukraine's claims are true, it would mean Russia is trying to sharply boost its warfighting capacity by simultaneously mobilizing its own forces and increasing the number of North Korean troops. In his address the previous day, Zelenskyy also claimed that Russia was expanding the deployment of North Korean troops and securing additional ballistic missiles from North Korea.
North Korean weapons are also continuing to appear on the battlefield. Zelenskyy said Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile in an attack on Ukraine early that morning. The Ukrainian military identified one of the weapons used in the strike as a KN-23 short-range ballistic missile, known as North Korea's version of the Iskander system.
Russia's use of North Korean ballistic missiles is adding to Ukraine's air defense burden. Ballistic missiles are faster than conventional cruise missiles or drones and are harder to intercept, making advanced air defense systems such as the MIM-104 Patriot necessary.
North Korea's role is also expanding beyond simple weapons supply. Ukraine's military intelligence agency said recently that a North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to the Voronezh region in western Russia. The unit, believed to consist of about 90 personnel, could be equipped with up to 120 North Korean ballistic missiles and six launchers.
North Korea previously sent troops to Russia and deployed them in fighting in the Kursk region. The U.S. intelligence community also assessed in this year's Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community that North Korea's combat capability has improved as its troops gained modern warfare experience in Russia and secured equipment and military capabilities.
Zelenskyy's repeated focus on North Korea also appears to carry a warning for South Korea and other Northeast Asian countries. If battlefield experience gained in the war in Ukraine and Russian military technology are transferred to North Korea, the consequences of North Korea-Russia military cooperation could reverberate back to the Korean Peninsula.
Ukraine is urging South Korea to provide military support, including air defense systems, citing North Korea's expanded military assistance to Russia. The South Korean government is closely monitoring the deepening North Korea-Russia military cooperation, but it remains cautious about directly supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter