Kyiv: Russia is planning to deploy North Korean soldiers on Ukrainian territory in the ongoing war between the two countries, dressing them in Russian uniforms, a Ukrainian security official has claimed.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, posted the claim on his Telegram account the previous day. Kovalenko stated that once North Korean troops are deployed on Ukrainian territory, Russia would assert that they are fighting on Russian territory as outlined by the Russian constitution, referencing Ukrainian lands incorporated into its constitution.

In the first year of the war in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws incorporating the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson - into the Russian Federation, though the international community does not recognize the annexation.

Since signing a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with North Korea in June last year, thousands of North Korean troops have been deployed to support Russia in its war against Ukraine, with their combat operations so far limited to the Russian frontline region of Kursk. Kovalenko's remarks suggest that North Korean troops could be deployed to the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, as Russia is now in the final stage of pushing back Ukrainian forces from Kursk, potentially raising the need to assign new roles to them.

Kovalenko mentioned, "The North Korean soldiers will wear Russian uniforms, just as they did in Kursk Oblast," in his Russian-language post, translated into English. He also claimed that Russia is actively bringing in laborers from North Korea to work in factories, with North Korean authorities receiving money from Russia, starting from US$1,000 per person. This mirrors the approach taken by the Soviet government after the 1950-53 Korean War to attract cheap labor for its industries in exchange for providing resources to North Korea. Kovalenko added that North Korean workers and their families receive only a small portion of the compensation from Russia.