It is the first US confirmation of a North Korean deployment in the region, where Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive since August and control several hundred square miles (kilometers) of Russian territory.
There are "indications that there's already a small number that are actually in the Kursk Oblast, with a couple thousand more that are either almost there or due to arrive imminently," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said of North Korean troops.
"We are concerned that they do intend to employ these forces in combat against the Ukrainians, or at least support combat operations against the Ukrainians in the Kursk region," Ryder said, adding that it remains to be seen exactly how they will be used.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said the previous day that North Korean forces were in Kursk, while the United States had until now only expressed concern that they could be deployed there.
Washington says a total of around 10,000 North Korean troops are currently in Russia.
Experts have said that in return for these forces, North Korea is likely aiming to acquire military technology, ranging from surveillance satellites to submarines, plus possible security guarantees from Moscow.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their political and military alliance in the course of the Ukraine conflict. Both are under sanctions -- Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons program, and Moscow for its war against Kyiv.
Pentagon: Some North Korean troops already deployed near Ukraine
Washington DC (UPI) Oct 29, 2024 -
North Korea is sending about 10,000 soldiers to Russia to help defeat Ukraine and some troops already are deployed near Ukraine, multiple sources say.
A small number of North Korean troops already are deployed in the Kursk area of Russia and are the lead elements of a Pentagon-estimated 10,000 North Korean troops heading to Russia.
Ukrainian forces in August launched a ground offensive in Russia's Kursk area and control a significant amount that region.
"We remain concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk," Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday.
The 10,000 North Korean troops are to be trained in eastern Russia before being deployed, but some already might be in Ukraine.
That number is more than three times greater than the 3,000 North Korean troops that U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials estimated last week.
The North Korean troops are being sent to a front line in unmarked civilian trucks, Ukrainian military intelligence announced on Sunday after intercepting Russian audio communications.
U.S. officials haven't confirmed if North Korean troops are in Ukraine, but U.S. and South Korean officials are meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss the growing relationship between North Korea and Russia and relevant troop deployments by those nations, CNN reported.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Ukrainian Presidential Administration Head Andriy Yermak in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to assess the situation.
They discussed U.S. military, economic and diplomatic aid in support of Ukraine, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a news release Tuesday.
Blinken affirmed the United States' support for Ukraine's sovereignty and efforts to achieve a "just and lasting peace," Miller said.
NATO chief says N.Korean troop deployment signals Putin's 'desperation'
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Oct 28, 2024 - NATO chief Mark Rutte on Monday decried the deployment of North Korean troops to bolster Russia's war effort in Ukraine as a dangerous expansion of the conflict that signalled President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation".
Speaking in Brussels after a briefing with South Korean intelligence officials, Rutte said he could confirm that North Korean military units had been sent to Russia's western Kursk region.
"The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security," Rutte told a press conference.
"The deployment (of) North Korean troops to Kursk is also a sign of Putin's growing desperation."
Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive in Kursk since August and control several hundred square kilometres of Russian territory.
Rutte said more than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the conflict started, adding the Kremlin was unable to sustain the invasion without foreign support.
Growing military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang are a major concern for the United States and the European Union, as Putin presses ahead with his efforts to build an anti-Western alliance.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was planning to send North Korean troops into battle within days. He has claimed North Korea is training 10,000 soldiers to support Russia.
"This is an escalation. Sanctions alone are not enough. We need weapons and a clear plan to prevent North Korea's expanded involvement in the war in Europe," Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media Monday, referring to confirmation of the deployment.
"Today, Russia brings in North Korea; next, it could broaden their engagement, and then other autocratic regimes may see that they can get away with this and come to fight against NATO," he added.
"The enemy understands strength. Our allies have this strength."
South Korea, NATO and the United States have also said thousands of North Korean troops are training in Russia.
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who took over the reins of NATO this month, called on Moscow and Pyongyang to "cease these actions immediately".
NATO's Indo-Pacific partners, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, have also been briefed on the situation, he said.
North Korea sent 10,000 troops to train in Russia, US says
Washington (AFP) Oct 28, 2024 -
North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to train in Russia, Washington said Monday, tripling its estimate and prompting NATO as well as EU warnings of a dangerous expansion of the Ukraine war.
Pyongyang -- with whom Moscow signed a mutual defense pact -- is already widely believed to be arming Russia for its invasion, but troops on the ground would mark a new escalation in the conflict.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned North Korea could "soon" have as many as 12,000 soldiers on Russian soil, while US President Joe Biden slammed the deployment as "very dangerous."
"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," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists, using an abbreviation for North Korea's official name.
Washington had previously put the number of North Korean troops in Russia at more than 3,000.
NATO chief Mark Rutte likewise called the troop deployment "a dangerous expansion of Russia's war" and "a sign of Putin's growing desperation."
Rutte noted more than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the conflict started in 2022, adding the Kremlin was unable to sustain the invasion without foreign support.
Despite the cost, Russia has been making steady territorial gains in Ukraine.
Moscow's army has advanced 478 square kilometers (184 square miles) into Ukrainian territory since the beginning of October, a record since the first weeks of the war, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.
Those gains followed 477 and 459 square-kilometer advances in August and September, respectively, and come amid amid major shifts on the front line, in particular in eastern Ukraine around Pokrovsk.
- Growing threats -
Speaking in Brussels after a briefing with South Korean intelligence officials, Rutte said he could confirm that North Korean military units had been deployed in the field in Russia's western Kursk region.
Ukrainian troops launched a ground offensive in Kursk in August and control several hundred square kilometers of Russian territory.
"The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security," Rutte told reporters in Brussels.
Experts have said that in return for the troops, North Korea is likely aiming to acquire military technology, ranging from surveillance satellites to submarines, plus possible security guarantees from Moscow.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also warned that North Korea sending troops "for the first time" represented "a significant escalation of the war against Ukraine and threatens global peace."
She made the comments after a phone call with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, during which she assured the leader that "the EU's response to this development will center on cooperation with the Republic of Korea and other like-minded partners."
The United States likewise told China -- an ally of both Moscow and Pyongyang -- it should be "concerned about this destabilizing action by two of its neighbors, Russia and North Korea," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who took over the reins of NATO this month, called on Moscow and Pyongyang to "cease these actions immediately."
- 'Enemy understands strength' -
At a press conference in Iceland on Monday, Zelensky had warned that there were already around 3,000 North Korean soldiers on Russian land -- with four times that expected imminently.
"We think that they will have 12,000 soon," the Ukrainian leader added.
"This is an escalation. Sanctions alone are not enough. We need weapons and a clear plan to prevent North Korea's expanded involvement in the war in Europe," Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media Monday after Rutte's comments.
"Today, Russia brings in North Korea; next, it could broaden their engagement, and then other autocratic regimes may see that they can get away with this and come to fight against NATO," he warned.
"The enemy understands strength. Our allies have this strength."
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