[Scene video+] "North Korea deploys Kursk after adapting to Russia"

[Anchor]
The National Assembly's Intelligence Committee held a plenary session to ask the National Intelligence Service about pending issues.

With the Ukrainian president recently publicly mentioning that North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia could increase to 100,000, attention is being paid to whether there has been a report on related trends.

I'm connecting to the Information Committee briefing site.

[Park Sun-won / Opposition secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
I will not bff on the budget today because I want to brief you on Friday and the budget is mostly information. In addition, among the main contents of the essential and supplementary questions related to the current issue, the international situation, North Korea trends, and the trend of sending troops to Russia.

And I will first brief you on the response of the NIS director and the NIS to the questions about the pending issues. Secretary Lee Sung-kwon will speak first in order.

[Lee Sung-kwon / ruling party secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
Today was the Intelligence Committee dealing with the budget bill and legislation, but there were also questions and answers related to pending issues such as North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia. So I'll first explain the questions and answers related to the current issue.

It contains about two main contents. This is the first thing about the North Korean military's dispatch to Russia. Foreign Minister Choi Sun-hee recently visited Russia, and we will explain two things about the background and results.

First of all, regarding the North Korean military's dispatch to Russia, the North Korean troops, which are composed of 11th Corps troops, have already been in the media.More than 11,000 Ma are believed to have been deployed to Kursk around late October after completing local adaptation training in northeastern Russia. And now, they are assigned to Russia's airborne brigade or Marine Corps to receive tactical and drone response training, and some are believed to have participated in the battle.

However, the NIS is now figuring out the specific operation status and the extent of the damage, believing that there may be casualties as the North Korean military has begun to participate in the frontline battle. In addition, some media outlets have reported that they are trying to find out exactly what happened because there is a lot of conflicting information about prisoners of war, surrender, and casualties.

And not only the dispatch of troops, but also the trend of additional support and export of military supplies has been identified. It has been confirmed that North Korea has exported additional long-range artillery such as 170mm self-propelled artillery and 240mm multiple rocket launchers, following artillery shells and missiles.

And since these weapons are not used by Russia, it is highly likely that North Korean troops were also sent for operational training and maintenance. And I will tell you about the background and results of Choi Sun-hee's visit to Russia. Choi Sun-hee is from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6, which is a fairly long period.

I understand that he visited Russia to show off the unwavering relationship between Russia and North Korea. During this visit, the first foreign ministers' strategic dialogue between Russia and North Korea was held on November 1st, and it is understood that the visit was made to discuss the expansion of strategic cooperation and strengthening anti-American solidarity under the new treaty.

In particular, it is noteworthy that on November 4, the Russian side first met with Putin, who was reluctant to do so, and North Korea's efforts to meet with Putin by extending his stay a day or two more, and it is estimated that such important issues were discussed and details are continuously being grasped. I summarized and told you about the Q&A that came and went on the two issues so far.

[Park Sun-won / Opposition secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
It was suggested that there would have been a very important and sensitive story during the meeting with Choi Sun-hee and Putin, and that it would not have been just a protocol. In particular, careful observation was suggested as to whether Kim Jong-un could visit Russia.

There was a saying that what kind of weapons, equipment, or technology North Korea will receive in the future will be considered a major task of the NIS and will continue to watch closely. In addition, there has been quite a heated debate in the U.S. recently over the lifting of the U.S. use of Attax.

Even in the case of Trump Jr., isn't he trying to trigger World War III so that President Trump can't take office? There were questions about the NIS' evaluation of various criticisms that it only represents the interests of the U.S. military industrial complex, saying that this is illegal and anti-constitutional, and the NIS chief said that there may be diplomatic and security aspects, but rather, political judgment could be involved.

And there's a saying that you know that there's a difference in position between the new Trump administration and the Biden administration in dealing with the Ukraine issue and that you're going to have a good balance between those two positions. Likewise, when asked if much of North Korea's military activities in Russia, including Kursk, can be influenced by information from Ukraine and even misunderstood by the people, both Ukraine and Russia are currently at war, and both countries are engaged in psychological and propaganda campaigns.

Therefore, we are fully aware that some information or reports may be different from the facts and have shown an attitude that we are judging not only Ukraine's information but also various allies' information and our own information.

[Lee Sung-kwon / ruling party secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
That's all for the briefing, and if you have any questions, I'll give you a simple answer.

[Park Sun-won / Opposition secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
On that point, the National Intelligence Service sees it between 10,900 and 12,000, and some of the manpower may be a small number even without our knowledge, but is it possible to increase it? However, it is judged that there is no basis for confirming that it is 12,000 or 15,000 people, or that there is no benefit to confirming it like that.

[Lee Sung-kwon / ruling party secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
When the Korean government specifically mentioned the figure, it presented a figure of about 10,900 people. One of the reasons why the figures are a little higher in Ukraine and other countries is that military equipment is with them, according to today's explanation. Of course, it needs soldiers who need to operate there, so those figures are continuously entering, so you can understand that the liquidity of those figures can exist.

As for the question of whether to send additional troops, the protracted war would naturally lead to more soldiers' sacrifices and, at Putin's request, could demand continued dispatch of additional troops to North Korea. If such a situation develops, there may be additional dispatch, but I can tell you that there is a slight liquidity figure based on the 11,000 people I mentioned earlier.

[Park Sun-won / Opposition secretary of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee]
In the process of questioning pending issues, at least some of the North Korean military is participating in the battle.