US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combat
The U.S. announced Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia for training. They called the move a serious one and warned that these forces would be “fair game” in Ukraine if they engage in combat.
The North Koreans could join Russian forces in Ukraine, and this deployment suggests that military ties have expanded between the two countries. Moscow is seeking weapons and troops in order to gain more ground in the grinding war which has been at a standstill for over two years.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it was a “next move” after Pyongyang had provided Russia with weapons, and that Pyongyang might face consequences for directly aiding Russia. His comments were the U.S.’s first public confirmation that North Korea sent troops to Russia. South Korean officials had revealed this development, but Pyongyang denied it.
John Kirby, White House National Security Spokesman, said that the U.S. believed at least 3,000 North Korean troops traveled by ship to Vladivostok in early-mid October, Russia’s biggest Pacific port.
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Kirby stated that “these soldiers traveled to several Russian military training facilities in eastern Russia where they are currently receiving training.” “We don’t know yet if these soldiers will fight alongside the Russian military but it is a very high probability.”
Kirby suggested that they could travel to western Russia to engage in combat with Ukraine’s forces. However, both Austin and Kirby stated that the U.S. is still assessing the situation.
Austin told Rome-based reporters that it was up to them to determine what exactly the North Korean troops were doing in Russia.
He said: “If co-belligerents and their intention is to take part in this war for Russia’s sake, that’s a very, serious issue. It will impact not only things in Europe but also in the Indo-Pacific.”
Kirby did warn, “I can say one thing though, if those people do decide to go and fight in Ukraine, then they are fair game.”
He said the key question was what Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s president, is getting from this.
In the last two years, Russia and North Korea’s cooperation has increased dramatically. They signed a major defence deal in June that requires both countries to immediately provide military assistance in case of an attack on either country.
Officials in South Korea are concerned that Russia could reward North Korea with sophisticated weapon technologies, which would boost their nuclear and missile programs aimed at South Korea. South Korea announced Tuesday that it would be willing to consider providing weapons to Ukraine as a response to reports of a troop transfer.
South Korea’s spy chief told lawmakers that North Korean troops were now receiving drone training in Russia before they are deployed to the battlefields of Ukraine.
South Korean intelligence published the first reports of the Russian Navy taking 1,500 North Korean Special Warfare troops to Russia in this month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his government has intelligence that 10,000 North Korean soldiers are being prepared to join Russian forces.
Park Sunwon attended the closed-door briefing of Cho Tae-yong, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, and learned that Cho told the lawmakers on Wednesday that 1,500 more North Korean soldiers had entered Russia.
Park, a reporter, said that Cho informed lawmakers that his agency estimated North Korea’s intention to deploy 10,000 troops in total to Russia by the end of December.
Park quoted Cho as saying that the 3,000 North Korean troops sent to Russia were divided among several military bases. Park reported that Cho said NIS believed they had not yet been deployed in combat.
Lee Seong Kweun, also speaking about the briefing with his colleague, said that the NIS discovered that the Russian military was teaching the North Korean soldiers to use military equipment like drones.
Lee quoted the NIS chief who said that Russian instructors had high opinions about the morale, physical strength and endurance of North Korean soldiers. However, they believe they will suffer heavy casualties because of their lack of understanding of modern warfare. Lee cited Cho to say that Russia was recruiting a lot of interpreters.
Lee stated that NIS detected signs of North Korea relocating families of soldiers selected to be sent into Russia to isolated sites. The NIS chief informed lawmakers that North Korea had not disclosed its troop deployment to its people.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that North Korea sending troops into Ukraine would be a “significant escalate” and he said he had asked the president of South Korea to send experts next week to Brussels to brief NATO.
Kyrylo Budanov of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate told The War Zone, an online military news outlet, on Tuesday, that North Korean troops would arrive in Russia’s Kursk Region on Wednesday to assist Russian troops in fighting off an Ukrainian incursion.
The South Korean spy agency reported last week that North Korea has sent over 13,000 containers containing artillery, rockets, and conventional weapons to Russia since August 20, 2023 in order to replenish its rapidly dwindling arsenal.
South Korea has been shaken by reports that the North was sending troops to Russia. The North has sent humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine but has not directly supplied arms, in accordance with its policy to not supply weapons to countries that are actively involved in conflict.
North Korea is home to 1.2 million soldiers, making it one of the world’s largest standing armies. However, the country has not fought in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-1953 Korean War. North Korean troops are not experienced enough to help Russia in a war, say experts.
Experts claim that North Korea is seeking Russia’s support in terms of economic aid and assistance to modernize its outdated conventional weapons systems, as well as transfer high-tech weapons technologies.
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