Untested North Korean pilots could fly Russian warplanes in Ukraine: report

North Korea, which has reportedly sent ground troops to join Russia's war against Ukraine, has also sent fighter pilots who could fly Russian warplanes, a report said Monday.

A government official in South Korea claimed that North Korea sent fighter pilots to Vladivostok, a city in Russia's Far East, last month before deploying its first ground troops on October 8, South Korean media outlet TV Chosun reported.

This could refer to training on Russian fighter jets supplied to North Korea, the report said. However, it could not be ruled out that Russia, suffering from a pilot shortage during the Russia-Ukraine War, had asked the North for help.

Russia would be the first foreign deployment for the North's fighter pilots since the Vietnam War. They also operated in Syria and Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Newsweek emailed the North Korean embassy in China seeking comment.

Both Ukraine and South Korea have accused Kim Jong Un-ruled North Korea of ​​sending troops to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort. The Kremlin claimed that cooperation with the North was “not directed against third countries.”

On Monday, a North Korean representative at the United Nations denied for the first time the allegations from Kiev and Seoul, claiming the allegations were “baseless stereotypical rumors” and that Pyongyang maintains legitimate and cooperative relations with Moscow.

Seoul is considering sending intelligence personnel to Ukraine to monitor any North Korean troops fighting with the Russians, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday. Weapons deliveries to Kyiv are also being considered.

North Korea has over 900 fighter jets, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said in a 2021 report. The country's most powerful fighter aircraft were purchased from the Soviet Union, including Su-25 ground attack aircraft and MiG-29 fighter aircraft.

The Su-25 was frequently used in the skies over Ukraine, with several being shot down.

Dutch open-source defense intelligence analysis website Oryx has visually confirmed that 114 Russian aircraft have been destroyed and 15 damaged, including 34 Su-25 aircraft, since the all-out war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

The U.S. intelligence report also claimed that due to fuel shortages and concerns about aging aircraft, the North's air force pilots spent only 15 to 25 hours in the air each year, leaving them inadequately trained and unable to maintain combat readiness.

Meanwhile, the South's air force said on Tuesday that its commanders met American counterparts at a meeting at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul. The security environment was assessed against the backdrop of the North's ongoing provocations and the decision to send troops to Russia.