The United States has said North Korean troops may have been deployed to a key front in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as speculation grows about how the international community might respond if a third party enters the fray.
The United States confirmed on October 23 that Pyongyang joined the Russian war against Ukraine, a claim made days before by Ukraine and South Korea. However, uncertainty remains over what role the secretive state’s troops could play.
John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said on Friday: “It is certainly possible, and I would even say probable, that at least some of these North Korean troops could be deployed to the area.” Kursk area.”
August 6 Ukraine staged an incursion against Russia in Kursk.
KIM WON JIN/Getty Images
The day Kirby made his statement, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky He warned that North Korean troops could be deployed to unspecified combat zones as early as Sunday.
“This is an obvious step of escalation by Russia,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. He added: “That is why a strong and principled response is needed from world leaders.”
Tetiana Hranchak, visiting assistant professor at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said: “North Korean troops in Ukraine would be another confirmation that the Russian war in Ukraine is not a war. local or regional. conflict.”
“Along with the intensification of military operations in the Middle East using the terrorist group Hamas“This is further confirmation of the anti-Western axis formed by Russia, which includes China and Iran in addition to North Korea,” he said. News week.
news week has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
North Korean soldiers are training in Vladivostok and 10,000 will be sent to fight Ukraine after a month of training. Bloomberg reported, citing South Korean intelligence.
While the United States has not confirmed South Korean reports that North Korean soldiers will fight on the battlefield, unnamed officials said. The Wall Street Journal that thousands could be sent and thrust into a combat role.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans wrote in X, previously Twitterthat his country’s intelligence believed that at least 1,500 North Korean troops had been deployed to Kursk.
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence previously reported that the first North Korean military units that had trained in eastern Russia had been spotted in the war zone on October 23.
However, a Ukrainian air assault brigade operating in the area said no North Korean forces had been detected and they had no experience fighting large-scale technological wars.
Putin himself has not denied reports that satellite images supported the claims, saying: “If there are images, they reflect something.” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said any decision to send its troops to support Russia would comply with international law. He did not confirm whether there was a deployment.
