Home › Security › What North Korea's troop reports meant by 22 October 2024
What North Korea's troop reports meant by 22 October 2024
Summary
A look back at the days before 22 October 2024, when claims of North Korean soldiers joining Russia's war drew alarm in Seoul and Kyiv.
What did it mean when North Korea was reported to be sending soldiers to fight alongside Russia? By 22 October 2024, that question was at the centre of security discussion about the war in Ukraine, after a series of statements over the preceding week.
On 16 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said North Korea had become directly involved in the war. A senior Ukrainian intelligence official said around 3,000 North Korean troops were in Russia and training for deployment to Russian-occupied territories.
Two days later, on 18 October, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Pyongyang had started sending troops to fight with Russia in Ukraine. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called a security meeting and said the international community must respond with all available means.
Aid from Washington
On the same day as Zelenskyy's remarks, 16 October, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new $425 million military aid package for Ukraine. It included long-range weaponry.
A separate crash with Russian crew
Elsewhere, a different incident involved Russian nationals. On 21 October, an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane crashed in North Darfur, Sudan, killing its crew of two Russians and three Sudanese nationals. The Rapid Support Forces claimed they had shot the aircraft down with a surface-to-air missile and said they had recovered its flight recorder. Russia said its diplomats in Sudan were investigating.
Taken together, the reports of 16 to 21 October showed a security picture in which the war in Ukraine was drawing in outside actors and a new tranche of Western weaponry was being announced.
