South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced on Wednesday that North Korean troops sent to Russia as mercenaries have moved to the Kursk front line over the past two weeks and are “already engaged in combat” with Ukrainian forces.
Kursk is a Russian oblast invaded It was attacked by Ukrainian forces in August, catching Russian forces by surprise. Ukraine apparently expected Russia to divert troops from the invading forces to retake Kursk, but instead Russia turned to North Korea's “strategic partners” for around 10,000 troops.
On Tuesday, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un ratified The Treaty of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia is the most important defense agreement signed by the two countries since the end of the Cold War. Among other provisions, it calls on countries to provide immediate military assistance if another country is attacked.
“Today, I can confirm that North Korea has over 10,000 people. [North Korean] “Soldiers have been deployed to eastern Russia, most of them moving to the far western Kursk region, where they have begun engaging in combat operations with Russian forces,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. said This is the first official confirmation by the United States that North Korean soldiers are fighting Ukrainians.
“The Russian military is training North Korean soldiers in basic infantry operations, including artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, and trench clearing, which is essential for front-line operations,” Patel said.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels. Confirmed North Korea's military said it was “literally in combat right now.”
Blinken said Russia's use of North Korean troops “requires a decisive response, and we will do so.”
Rutte also said NATO has confirmed that “North Korean nationals are active in Ukraine.”
“These North Korean soldiers pose an additional threat to Ukraine, and President Putin will be more likely to do harm.”
The Ukrainian army expressed They despised the North Korean military, boasted that they had learned enough Korean to teach them how to surrender, and predicted that the mercenaries would “die in vain.”
