North Korea is learning valuable skills in fighting Ukraine, US warns

• North Korea is learning combat lessons fighting Ukraine, a US official said.
• It means that the authoritarian state is a greater threat to its neighbors.
• North Korea has sent around 12,000 soldiers to fight for Russia.

North Korea is learning valuable lessons from the fight against Ukraine, making it a growing threat to its neighbors, a US official said.

In recent months, North Korea has sent around 12,000 troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine as part of a new security pact between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The fighting has been concentrated in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine has seized and controlled large areas of territory.

In return, North Korea receives economic and diplomatic support from Russia, as well as as valuable military technology.

Dorothy Camille Shea, US deputy ambassador to the UN, discussed the agreement at the UN Security Council. Reuters reported.

North Korea “is benefiting significantly from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and expertise, making it more capable of waging war against its neighbors,” he said.

“In turn, the DPRK will likely be eager to take advantage of these improvements to promote arms sales and military training contracts globally,” he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

After negotiating its alliance with Russia, North Korea took a defiant stance and on Monday tested a ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead.

The test occurred while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea. The moment seemed destined to showcase North Korea’s ability to overcome the defenses of the United States and its regional allies.

South Korea has watched with growing concern North Korea’s involvement in the Ukraine war. He said last year that it could provide Ukraine with intensified support in response to the alliance with Russia.

The UN has long sought to limit North Korea’s military program, specifically its ability to deploy nuclear weapons, by imposing harsh sanctions.

But Russia has taken advantage of its place on the UN Security Council to obstruct a committee formed to enforce them.

On Wednesday, Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia argued that North Korea’s new missile tests were a defensive measure in response to military exercises by the United States and its regional allies.

Under President Joe Biden, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to helping defend East Asian regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.

President-elect Donald Trump has suggested that can take a more transactional approach negotiate an agreement with Kim, a path he followed in his first term.