Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech to parliament on Wednesday that North Korea was a de facto participant in the war in Ukraine and was siding with Russia. He said Ukrainian intelligence had discovered that Pyongyang was transferring not only weapons but also soldiers to Moscow.

The deepening of military ties between Russia and North Korea has drawn condemnation from the United States, South Korea and Japan. The three countries announced on Wednesday a new team to monitor arms sanctions against North Korea.

To what extent is North Korea helping Russia, what is the depth of their military cooperation, and to what extent does Moscow need Pyongyang’s help?

Is North Korea sending soldiers to Russia?

According to Ukraine and South Korea, yes.

On October 8, Seoul’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told South Korean politicians that it was “highly likely” that North Korean officers were killed in a Ukrainian attack near Donetsk on October 3.

And on Friday, October 18, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said that Russian naval vessels had transferred 1,500 North Korean soldiers to the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok between October 8 and 13.

However, Russia has rejected the accusation that North Korean personnel are in Russia.

“This seems like yet another fake news story,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier this month.

Although Ukraine and South Korea have not made public any evidence to support their claims, experts say the North Korean military presence in Ukraine is plausible.

“We cannot rule out the possibility,” Edward Howell, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera. “We know that Russia needs manpower.”

Howell added that even if North Korea does not send foot soldiers, “we cannot discount North Korea sending military engineers as well as personnel to help monitor and oversee the use of North Korean weapons – which while may be numerous in number, but of varying nature.” quality – in Ukraine”.

Howell’s research focuses on the politics and international relations of North Korea, the Korean Peninsula, and East Asia.

Zelenskyy accused North Korea in a video address earlier Sunday of sending military personnel to fight for Russia against Ukraine.

In his Sunday video address, Zelensky said: “This is no longer just about transferring weapons. It’s actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying forces.”

“We see an increasing alliance between Russia and regimes like North Korea,” he warned.

Zelenskyy urged allies to step up their response to Russia, especially on lifting restrictions on Ukraine using long-range missiles to attack deep into Russian territory.

“When we talk about giving Ukraine greater long-range capabilities and more decisive supplies for our armed forces, it is not just a list of military equipment. The point is to increase the pressure on the aggressor – a pressure that will be stronger than what Russia can handle. And it’s about preventing an even bigger war,” he said.

The United States has expressed concern about reports of a North Korean military presence in Ukraine – but has not independently leveled the accusation against Pyongyang itself.

General Charles Flynn, the commander of the US military in the Asia-Pacific region, told an event in Washington that North Korean personnel involved in the conflict would allow Pyongyang to get real-time feedback on its weapons for the first time .

“That kind of feedback from a real battlefield to North Korea to be able to make adjustments to their weapons, their munitions, their capabilities and even their people – I find very concerning,” he said at the Center for a New American Security on Tuesday.

What is the defense pact between North Korea and Russia?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who rarely makes foreign trips, visited Russia in September 2023 and invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit North Korea.

In June, Putin made his first state visit to North Korea in 24 years, and Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defense pact. Although the exact text of this pact has not been released, the pact includes a mutual assistance clause calling on the two countries to provide military assistance if either of them is attacked.

On June 23, the US and regional allies South Korea and Japan issued a joint statement published on the US State Department website expressing “grave concerns” about the pact.

Since then, Ukrainian forces carried out a raid on Kursk, Russia, on August 6, an act that – in Russia’s eyes – could potentially constitute an attack, triggering the mutual assistance clause in the agreement with North Korea.

Tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday when North Korea blew up parts of roads near the South Korean border.

Also on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked by reporters whether the mutual assistance clause means Russia and North Korea could become involved in the war in Ukraine or the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, respectively. Peskov did not answer the question, saying only that the language of the treaty was “completely unambiguous” and did not need to be clarified.

He told reporters that the pact “implies a truly strategic, in-depth cooperation in all areas, including security.”

Did North Korea supply Russia with weapons?

Once again the US, Ukraine and South Korea say this, while the Kremlin and Pyongyang deny it.

On October 9, the Ukrainian military said it had attacked a Russian arsenal, including weapons sent to Russia by North Korea. The military added that the drone strike on the Bryansk border area was aimed at creating logistical problems for Russia and limiting its offensive capabilities.

In the June 23 joint statement, the US, South Korea and Japan said they condemn the deepening of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including “continued arms transfers from the DPRK to Russia that prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people.” .

On February 27, then-South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters that North Korea has sent about 6,700 containers containing millions of rounds of ammunition to Russia since September 2023 in exchange for food and raw materials for weapons production.

In January, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said intelligence showed Russia used at least one weapon supplied by North Korea to Ukraine on December 30, 2023. The weapon landed in an open field in the Zaporizhia region, Kirby said. He said more weapons supplied by North Korea were used on January 2.

In April, the Reuters news agency reported that United Nations sanctions monitors told the UN Security Council that debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 2 appeared to be from a North Korean Hwasong-11 ballistic missile series. This is a violation of the arms embargo against North Korea.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, and those measures have been strengthened over the years.

In March, Russia vetoed the UN’s renewal of a panel of UN experts to monitor North Korea’s compliance with sanctions. Although the sanctions will remain in force, the supervisory power will not.

Why is the military relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang deepening?

International relations lecturer Howell told Al Jazeera that the relationship arose from a “largely transactional” need.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it faced global isolation, and “North Korea was able to provide the goods Putin wanted in exchange for what it needed in return.”

Howell said the signing of the defense pact had established a “cash-for-arms” relationship. “North Korea provided artillery, which quickly escalated to providing ballistic missiles, and in return Russia provided food, money and, crucially, military technology assistance.” The advanced military technology is crucial for North Korea, Howell explained, “as Kim Jong Un’s ultimate goal remains North Korea’s recognition as a de facto nuclear state.”

In addition to material weapons, Pyongyang also has Moscow’s “unwavering support” in the UN Security Council, Howell said. “So Pyongyang can get away scot-free if it chooses to strengthen its nuclear and missile program through tests and launches, which, as we know, North Korea intends to do.”