US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Thursday that the United States expects to send thousands of North Korean soldiers in Russia to fight against Ukrainian forces “in the coming days.”
The Biden administration has publicly revealed new information it says it has that about 8,000 North Korean troops are now in Russia’s Kursk region near the Ukrainian border — a much higher number than previous comments that only “some” soldiers have deployed to the region.
“We have not yet seen the deployment of these forces to fight against Ukrainian forces, but we expect that to happen in the coming days,” Blinken said at a press conference in Washington with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.
The Russian military is training North Korean forces in artillery, drones and basic infantry operations, “suggesting that they intend to fully use these forces in front-line operations,” Blinken said.
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He added: “If these forces participate in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets.”
Blinken said Russia’s use of North Korean forces shows Moscow is “desperate” as its war against Ukraine enters another winter, nearly three years after it first invaded the country. Kremlin forces have struggled to repel the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk that began in August — the first time Ukrainian fighters have penetrated Russian territory since the war began — and the two sides have been at a near stalemate for more than a year.
However, North Korea’s involvement in the Russian invasion has ignited global concerns about the expansion of the war and what aid Russia might provide North Korea in return.
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US and South Korean officials spoke hours after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in nearly a year, demonstrating potential progress in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the US mainland.
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While the meeting was underway in Washington, the United States, South Korea and Japan issued a joint statement condemning the missile launch as a “flagrant violation” of several UN Security Council resolutions and criticizing the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Deployment of North Korean forces.
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The United States estimates that there are about 10,000 North Korean soldiers in Russia. Seoul and its allies estimate the number has risen to 11,000, while Ukraine has put the number higher at up to 12,000.
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The information regarding North Korean forces in Kursk was first revealed in a dramatic moment during a UN Security Council meeting earlier Thursday, when US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, asked for more time to add to previous comments condemning Russia and Korea. North. Korea’s growing military relations.
“We have just received some information, just now coming in, that there are about 8,000 DPRK soldiers in the Kursk Oblast,” Wood said.
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I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleagues: Does Russia still confirm that there are no DPRK forces in Russia? That’s my only question and final point.
The Russian delegate at the meeting, which Moscow called to discuss international peace and security, did not respond to the comment. Then the session was adjourned.
The new figure announced by Wood represents a significant increase from the previous day, when Austin only said that “some” troops had moved toward the Ukrainian border in the Kursk region.
North Korea has also provided munitions to Russia, and earlier this month, the White House released photos it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.
Russia and North Korea signed an expanded security agreement earlier this year.
-With files from The Associated Press
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.