Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been claiming, since he delivered his “victory plan” speech to the Verkhovna Rada parliament on Oct. 16, that there are North Korean troops in Russia. The U.S. and NATO have provided no support for his claim, but are otherwise whipping up hysteria over the Russia-North Korea military relationship. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who was in Seoul on Oct.16 for a meeting on increasing the international pressure campaign against North Korea with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, told reporters there that the U.S. and its allies are “alarmed” by North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, as well as its alleged increasing military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, reported AP.
Campbell claimed there are signs that North Korea was increasing the flow of materials, including artillery and missiles, to Russia. This, he said, was “creating further instability in Europe.” He remarked that the U.S. was still evaluating reports that North Korea was also sending personnel. “We are concerned by them and ... we agreed that we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Campbell said about the claims.
The next day, Zelenskyy claimed in Brussels that his government had intelligence that nearly 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were being prepared to join the Russian forces fighting in his country, “though without offering any details,” reported Britain’s The Independent. “From our intelligence, we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told reporters at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia.” Zelenskyy warned that any third country wading into the conflict—in this case North Korea—would be “the first step to a world war.”
