Nearly 10,000 North Korean troops have arrived in Russia near Ukraine’s border, sparking concern that they may soon join Moscow’s war effort.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken confirmed the deployment on Thursday, adding that these troops have been trained in artillery and drone operations and basic infantry tactics.
Mr Blinken claimed that about 8,000 of the Korean soldiers are positioned in Kursk, the border region where Russian forces have been fighting off a Ukrainian incursion since August.
This troop count is a sharp increase from previous estimates. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin just a day earlier indicated only a partial movement of Korean soldiers towards the Ukraine border.
Mr Blinken warned that the Korean soldiers would become “legitimate military targets” if they engaged in combat operations.
“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” he said at a joint press briefing with South Korean and US defence officials.
South Korea has put the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia as high as 11,000 while Ukraine has claimed there are nearly 12,000 of them.
South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul denounced the deployment, describing it as a serious threat not only to Europe but also to stability on the Korean peninsula. He urged for an immediate withdrawal and warned that Seoul would respond appropriately to this escalation.
Tensions on the peninsula intensified on Thursday after North Korea tested an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, the first in nearly a year.
US and South Korea fear Moscow’s alliance with Pyongyang could deepen if technological assistance for North Korea’s weapons development is involved.
In response, Mr Blinken has called on China to use its influence to curb North Korea’s involvement, noting that recent talks with Chinese officials underscored the expectations for Beijing to take action.
“I think they know well the concerns that we have, and the expectations that, both in word and deed, they’ll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities,” Mr Blinken said of Chinese officials.
The US, South Korea and Japan have since issued a joint statement condemning the missile launch, describing it as a “flagrant violation” of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.
They urged North Korea to “immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond”.
They also criticised the increasing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, calling it a destabilising factor for peace on the Korean peninsula and beyond.
Mr Austin, meanwhile, said the US will announce new military assistance for Ukraine in the coming days.
The US has already supplied more than $59bn in military assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, and Mr Austin reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to continue supporting Kyiv.
Mr Austin said Ukraine could hold on to the Russian territory in Kursk. “I do believe that they can hold on to the territory, if they choose to do that. They do have options,” Mr Austin said of Ukrainian troops.
He argued that the impact of North Korean troops on the conflict would be limited given the high casualty rates among Russian forces.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, however, said the deployment of the Korean forces presents a challenge. Russian leader Vladimir Putin “is testing the reaction of the West”, Mr Zelensky said, noting the North Korean deployment could serve as a gauge for potential future escalations.
At a UN Security Council session on Thursday, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood highlighted the presence of Korean troops near Ukraine.
Addressing the Russian representative, he asked, “Does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia?”
Russia’s deputy ambassador Anna Evstigneeva declined to respond.
However, Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian envoy to the UN, questioned on 30 October why Moscow’s allies like North Korea cannot help it when Western countries claim the right to help Kyiv.
“Even if everything that’s being said about the cooperation between Russia and North Korea by our Western colleagues is true, why is it that the United States and allies are trying to impose on everyone the flawed logic that they have the right to help the Zelensky regime,” he asked, “and Russian allies have no right to do a similar thing?”
In addition to sending troops, North Korea has reportedly supplied military equipment to Russia, with the White House releasing pictures earlier this month purportedly showing over 1,000 containers of munitions en route to Russia by rail. This support, along with Iranian drones supplied to Russia, underscores the increased involvement of international actors in the ongoing war.
According to Western analysts, North Korea’s participation in the war suggests Russia’s forces are stretched thin. “You don’t get thousands of soldiers from North Korea if your war is going well,” remarked Justin Crump, a former British tank commander and head of strategic advisory firm Sibylline.