North Korea deploys 10,000 elite troops to Russia
...May likely fight against Ukraine
Over 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia to train and fight against Ukraine in “the next several weeks”, the United States government has announced, adding that the move has serious implications for the conflict and the rest of the European continent.
“We believe that the DPRK 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,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told newsmen on Monday.
While citing an assessment by the US Defense Department, Singh noted that “a portion of those soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine.” The US is concerned that the troops would be used “in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces” in Russia’s Kursk Region, the official added.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said the North Korean military deployment threatened both his country’s national security and the international community, denouncing on Tuesday what he described as “illegal” military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Also, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier on Monday that the North Korean deployment represents “a significant escalation” in the Ukraine conflict and was “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war”.
“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” Rutte told reporters after talks with a South Korean delegation about the North Korean deployments.
A North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official did not confirm media reports about a troop deployment to Russia but said if Pyongyang had taken such action, he believed it would be in line with international norms.
Russia initially refuted reports about North Korean involvement in its war on Ukraine as “fake news”. But President Vladimir Putin has not denied that North Korean troops are in Russia and said it was an internal matter of how he implemented any partnership treaty with Pyongyang.
Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov shrugged off Rutte’s comments on Monday and noted that Pyongyang and Moscow signed a joint security pact last June.
Lavrov also claimed that Western military instructors have long been covertly deployed to Ukraine to help its military use long-range weapons provided by Western partners.
However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet their South Korean counterparts later this week in Washington, DC to discuss the North Korean involvement in Ukraine.