Russia providing N. Korea anti-air missiles in barter for troop deployment

Russia has provided North Korea with anti-air missiles and air defence equipment in exchange for its troop deployment in support of Moscow's war in Ukraine, South Korea's top security adviser said on Friday, 22 November.

National security adviser Shin Won-sik revealed this, even as North Korea is believed to have sent more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Russia in the western Kursk border region against Ukraine, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"Russia is believed to have provided equipment and anti-air missiles to strengthen Pyongyang's vulnerable air defence system," Shin said in an interview with broadcaster SBS when asked what the North would be getting from Russia in return for the troop dispatch.

"Following North Korea's failed military spy satellite launch on 27 May, Russia had already declared its intention to support satellite-related technologies (to North Korea), and it reportedly supplied various military technologies," Shin said.

"We believe that there has also been economic aid in various forms," he added.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers earlier this week that the troops deployed to Russia are believed to have been assigned to Moscow's airborne brigade and marine corps on the ground, with some of the soldiers having already entered combat.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, 21 November, that a senior North Korean general was wounded in a Ukrainian strike in the Kursk region.