South Korean Intelligence Says North Is Sending Troops To Aid Russia's War In Ukraine Reports

South Korean intelligence has found that North Korea has dispatched 12,000 troops including special operation forces to support Russia's war against Ukraine, news reports said Friday.

Yonhap news agency cited the National Intelligence Service as that the North Korean troops have already left the country.

The NIS didn't immediately confirm the report, but South Korea's presidential office said in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had presided over an emergency meeting earlier Friday to discuss North Korea's troop dispatch to Ukraine. The statement said participants of the meeting agreed that North Korea's troop dispatch poses a grave security threat to South Korea and the international community.

But the presidential office gave no further details like when and how many North Korean soldiers have been sent to Ukraine and what roles they are expected to play.

Ukrainian media reported earlier this month that six North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile strike in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region on Oct. 3.