France worried by reports of North Korean troops sent to fight with Russia in Ukraine

France has said it is concerned about growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after the South’s spy agency said Pyongyang had sent troops to fight in Ukraine.

"An increase in North Korean cross-cooperation and military support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine is very worrying," foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.

Asked about the reports, a spokesman for Ukraine's president said "we do have this confirmation."

"It is definitely happening. How many people, how, when - these are details. But we know and it is not a secret for anybody that North Korea is Russia’s ally," Andrii Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office told Euronews.

If the South Korean intelligence is confirmed, the troop deployment would bring a third country into the war and intensify the standoff between North Korea and the West.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul said in a statement that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operations forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from 8-13 October.

It said more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia soon.

The North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have been given Russian military uniforms, weapons and forged identification documents, the NIS said.

It said they are currently staying at military bases in Vladivostok and other Russian sites such as Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk and that they will likely be deployed to battle grounds after completing their adaptation training.

The NIS posted on its website satellite and other photos showing what it calls Russian navy ship movements near a North Korean port and suspected North Korean mass gatherings in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk in the past week.

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