"North Korea Modernizes Urban Warfare Training Facilities"… Further Troops to Russia?

Amid growing speculation over an additional deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, signs have been detected that North Korea has begun modernizing its internal urban warfare training facilities.

Local time on the 16th, U.S. North Korea-focused media outlet NK News reported, based on satellite imagery from private satellite company Planet Labs, that North Korea began constructing 10 additional buildings on a slope within the Korean People's Army Training Station No. 60 located in the Gangdong area of Pyongyang last June.

This facility was previously used by North Korea for special forces training before deploying Russian-supporting troops to the Ukraine battlefield.

NK News pointed out that, given their locations, these buildings are highly likely to be used for shooting practice or infiltration training rather than actual residential or office purposes.

Changes were also detected in the urban warfare training area in Eunsan County, which is linked to units under the North Korean 11th Corps (Special Operations Force).

According to satellite imagery, new construction work began across the training ground, and a large building that had been erected there last July disappeared from satellite photos in mid-August.

According to NK News, this suggests the possibility that the building was destroyed during actual training exercises by North Korean troops.

North Korea currently maintains dozens of urban warfare training facilities across the country, but the majority of them are decades old, making updates necessary.

In particular, this modernization work is underway amid forecasts that North Korea could dispatch additional troops to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned in July that Russia had requested additional troop deployments from North Korea, followed by an interview with local Ukrainian media on August 9 where he stated that a decision had been made to deploy 30,000 to 50,000 North Korean troops to Russian territory.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.