North Korean troops amassed in border to join Ukraine war soon, Pentagon chief warns
- 23 November, 11:09
Russia has stationed around 10,000 North Korean soldiers in its border Kursk region and will likely involve them in combat against Ukraine soon, US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.
“Based upon what they’ve been trained on, the way they’ve been integrated into the Russian formations, I fully expect to see them engaged in combat soon,” Austin told reporters.
The Pentagon chief, however, said he had not so far seen significant reporting “of Pyongyang troops being “actively engaged in combat”.
According to official Ukrainian reports, Russia has amassed 50,00-strong troops, including North Korean soldiers, to recapture swathes of lands seized by Ukraine in border Kursk region in the past few months. Earlier, South Korean officials and Washington accused Russia of sending oil, anti-air missiles and economic help to North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang troops’ involvement in the war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Western allies have described North Korean troops’ deployment in Russia as escalation of the war.
Kursk offensive was the first case of large-scale incursion in Russia’s territory since the end of World War II. The incursion into Kursk was aimed at slowing Russia’s advances in eastern Donbas and gaining leverage in negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier described Kursk as a “buffer zone” to stop Russian attacks. Ukraine’s General Staff claim that Russia has deployed 59,000 troops, including those from North Korea to the Kursk region since Ukraine’s incursion.
