北朝鮮、ロシアに追加派兵 韓国情報機関

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国の情報機関は２７日、北朝鮮がロシアにさらに多くの兵士を送り、ロシア西部クルスク州の前線に再配置したとの見方をＡＦＰに示した。（写真は北朝鮮・平壌にある軍幹部養成機関の様子）
　韓国および欧米諸国の情報機関によると、北朝鮮は昨年、ウクライナを侵攻しているロシア軍を支援する目的で、クルスク州の国境地域に１万人以上の兵士を派遣した。
　しかし、韓国は今月、前線にいた北朝鮮兵は１月中旬以降、戦闘には参加していないと発表。ウクライナ側も、北朝鮮兵は大きな損失を被り、「撤退した」との見方を示していた。
　だがここへきて、韓国の国家情報院の関係者は２７日、北朝鮮兵がクルスクに再配置され、「追加派兵が行われた可能性がある」と付け加えた。
　正確な規模については現在評価中だとした。
　ロシアおよび北朝鮮側は、派兵については認めていない。
　北朝鮮の国営メディアは２６日、金正恩（キム・ジョンウン）朝鮮労働党総書記が軍幹部養成機関を視察し、「現代戦の実戦経験」を活用するよう促したと報じている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/27-17:22）

North Korea has sent more soldiers to Russia and re-deployed several to the frontline in Kursk, Seoul's spy agency told AFP on Thursday.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said that more than 10,000 soldiers from the reclusive state were sent to Russia last year to help it fight a shock Ukrainian offensive into the Kursk border region.
Earlier this month, Seoul said North Korean soldiers previously fighting alongside Russia's army on the Kursk frontline had not been engaged in combat since mid-January.
Ukraine also said they had been withdrawn following heavy losses.
On Thursday, an official from Seoul's National Intelligence Agency said they had been redeployed there.
That came alongside some additional troop deployments appearing to have taken place, the official added.
The exact scale is still being assessed, the official said.
Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have confirmed the deployment.
But the two countries signed an agreement, including a mutual defence clause, when Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to the nuclear-armed North last year.
- 'Brutal' fighting -
Ukraine has previously said it captured or killed several North Korean soldiers in Kursk.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has also released footage of interrogations with what he said were North Korean prisoners captured by the Ukrainian army there.
And this month, Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper published an interview with a North Korean soldier describing brutal fighting on the frontline.
The soldier, who was visibly wounded, told the paper that many of his fellow North Korean soldiers had been killed by drones and artillery fire.
Everyone who joined the army with me is dead, he said.
Pyongyang and Moscow have deepened political, military and cultural ties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a New Year's letter, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hailed Putin and made a possible reference to the war in Ukraine.
He said 2025 would be the year when the Russian army and people defeat neo-Nazism and achieve a great victory.
On Wednesday, North Korean state media reported Kim had visited a major military academy, urging troops to harness the actual experiences of modern warfare.