The topic of North Korean troops allegedly in Russia is expected to be on the agenda, when South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun visits the Pentagon for the 56th U.S.-R.O.K. Security Consultative Meeting on Oct. 30. “We believe that the D.P.R.K. has sent around 10,000 soldiers in total to train in eastern Russia that will probably augment Russian forces near Ukraine over the next several weeks,” Defense Department Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. “A portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast near the border with Ukraine.”
“Should D.P.R.K. soldiers be used on the battlefield, this would mark a further escalation and highlights President Putin’s increasing desperation as Russia has suffered extraordinary casualties on the battlefield, and an indication that Putin may be in more trouble than people realize,” Singh declared. “If we see D.P.R.K. troops moving in and towards the front lines, I mean, they are co-belligerents in the war,” Singh replied to a reporter’s question. “And so, they are fighting on these front lines and the Ukrainians are defending their sovereign territory and pushing the Russians back.” Furthermore, “if they are in combat, you know, they’re fighting the Ukrainians, who are fighting for their sovereign territory. And we’ve made a commitment to Ukraine that we’re going to continue to support them with whatever it takes.”
This has been taken in some news reports to mean that if North Korean troops enter the battle, the U.S. will allow Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S. weapons without limitation. British news agency Reuters, for example, headlined its story “No New Limits on Ukraine’s Use of U.S. Weapons if N. Korea Enters Fight, Pentagon Says,” though the story itself contains no quote to that effect.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday that North Korean troops could be deployed by Russia to the front lines against Ukraine “sooner than expected,” Korea Herald reported, citing a statement from the South Korean presidential office. Their phone conversation came following a statement from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, following a briefing to the North Atlantic Council by South Korean officials, in which Rutte claimed that NATO had “confirmed” that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region.
In response, von der Leyen maintained that the EU would remain vigilant, collaborating with member states to formulate proactive measures addressing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. She also pledged to work closely with South Korea throughout this process, according to Yoon’s office.
Later on Oct. 28, Yoon also shared, in a phone call with Rutte, “the latest intelligence on North Korea’s troop deployments to Russia and their involvement in the Ukraine war, discussing potential response measures,” according to Yoon’s office.
Scott Ritter, in an appearance on the “Dialogue Works” YouTube channel of Nima Alkhorshid, asserted that no evidence of the presence of North Korean troops in Russia has been presented and that the U.S./NATO claims are nothing but a propaganda exercise.
