Earlier this week, Putin introduced a bill to ratify a military pact he made with Kim, which pledges that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of “aggression” against either country.
A military source in Russia’s Far East told BBC Russian this week that “a number of North Koreans have arrived” and were stationed in one of the military bases near Ussuriysk, to the north of Vladivostok.
However, some military experts believe the Russian military units will have difficulties incorporating North Korean troops into their frontlines.
Apart from the language barrier, the North Korean army has no recent experience of combat operations, they said.
“They could guard some sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border, which would free Russian units for fighting elsewhere,” said Valeriy Ryabykh, editor of the Ukrainian publication Defence Express.
“I would rule out the possibility that these units will immediately appear on the front line.”
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee in Seoul
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