The Pentagon announced on 28 October that Ukraine would face no new restrictions on using US-supplied weapons against North Korean forces should they engage in combat operations against Ukrainian troops, reports Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
According to Pentagon estimates, approximately 10,000 North Korean service members have been deployed to Russia’s eastern regions for training.
This statement follows earlier Ukrainian intelligence reports that around 11,000 North Korean troops had undergone training in Russia and could engage in the war against Ukraine. Approximately 3,000 North Korean troops have been already relocated to Kursk Oblast.
“We are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these servicemembers in combat operations or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast near the Ukrainian border,” Singh said, according to Voice of America.
The Pentagon spokesperson said that this potential development is a “further escalation” that would “demonstrate President Putin’s growing desperation as Russia suffers massive battlefield losses.”
Singh said such a move would “have serious implications for security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on 28 October that North Korean troops had been transferred to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which Ukrainian forces captured during their summer offensive.
The Pentagon reports that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host his South Korean counterpart Kim Yeon-hwan at the Pentagon on 30 October for the 56th Security Consultative Meeting. On 31 October, Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will receive Kim and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul at the State Department for the sixth US-ROK Foreign and Defense Ministers’ Meeting.
Read also:
- NATO confirms presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast
- WSJ: North Korea sends young, inexperienced, malnourished soldiers to Russia to test ground in Ukraine as “mere cannon fodder”
- South Korean delegation to brief NATO on North Korean troops in Russia