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North Korean troops in Russian uniforms heading to Kursk, says US North Korean troops fighting for Russia in Ukraine will ‘surely return in body bags’, US envoy says
(about 4 hours later)
Lloyd Austin says deployment near Ukraine border is a dangerous and destabilising development Envoy to UN Robert Wood gives warning ahead of security council meeting, as US and South Korea defence chiefs urge North Korea to withdraw
North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving to the Russian region of Kursk, near Ukraine, according to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, who described the deployment as a dangerous and destabilising development. The US and South Korean defence chiefs have called for North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia, as the US envoy to the UN, Robert Wood, bluntly warned that Pyongyang’s forces entering Ukraine “will surely return in body bags”.
Austin was speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon with the South Korean defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 11,000 troops to Russia. The US and South Korea said some of the North Korean troops are heading to Kursk, on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion. Washington says 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed for possible action against Ukrainian forces. Russia and North Korea have deepened their political and military alliance as the Ukraine war has dragged on, but sending Pyongyang’s troops into combat against Kyiv’s forces would mark a significant escalation that has sparked widespread international concern.
Austin said “the likelihood is pretty high” that Russia will use the North Korean troops in combat. He added that officials were discussing what to do about the deployment, which he said had the potential to broaden or lengthen the conflict in Ukraine. Asked if it could prompt other nations to get more directly involved in the conflict, he acknowledged that it could “encourage others to take action”. “I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia,” US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon on Wednesday, echoing a call made at a joint appearance with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations denied that North Korean troops were present on its frontlines, and accused Washington and its allies of “disinformation”. The White House has said that Pyongyang’s forces would become “legitimate military targets” if they fight against Ukraine, and Austin echoed that stance on Wednesday.
“These statements about the North Korean soldiers in our front should not surprise no one, because they’re all barefaced lies,” Vassily Nebenzia told the UN security council. North Korean troops would be “co-belligerents, and you have every reason to believe that … they will be killed and wounded as a result of battle,” he added.
North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has triggered alarms across the globe, as leaders worry about how it may expand the war in Ukraine and what Russian military aid will be delivered to Pyongyang in exchange. Speaking before the UN security council, Wood gave an even more explicit warning, saying if Pyongyang’s forces “enter Ukraine in support of Russia, they will surely return in body bags.”
Kim said he didn’t necessarily believe the deployment would trigger war on the Korean peninsula, but that it could increase security threats between the two nations. There was a “high possibility” that Pyongyang would ask for higher technologies in exchange for its troop deployment, such as in nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, he said, speaking through an interpreter. “I would advise Chairman Kim [Jong-un] to think twice about engaging in such reckless and dangerous behaviour,” Wood added.
“They’re doing this because Putin has lost a lot of troops,” Austin said, adding that Moscow had a choice between mobilising more of its own forces or turning to others for help. Already, he said, Russia had sought military weapons from other nations, including North Korea and Iran. Despite his call for them to withdraw, Austin said there was a “good likelihood” that Moscow would still proceed.
The US has estimated there are about 10,000 North Korean troops now in Russia. Seoul and its allies, however, assess that the number dispatched to Russia has increased to 11,000, according to a senior South Korean presidential official, who spoke on condition of anonymity during a background briefing. South Korea’s Kim, speaking through a translator, said he believed the North Korean deployment to Russia “can result in the escalation of the security threats on the Korean peninsula”. That is because there is a “high chance” that Pyongyang will ask for technology transfers from Russia to aid its weapons programs – including on tactical nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles and reconnaissance satellites – in exchange for the deployment of its forces, he said.
More than 3,000 of them are believed to have moved toward combat zones in western Russia, the official said, without specifying the locations. Some North Korean advance units have already arrived in the Kursk region. But he did not announce a change to Seoul’s longstanding policy that bars it from selling weapons into active conflict zones including Ukraine – a stance it has stuck to despite calls from Washington and Kyiv to reconsider.
“At the current moment, nothing is determined,” Kim said when asked if there are plans for South Korea to indirectly supply munitions to Ukraine.
The Pentagon said the previous day that a “small number” of North Korean troops had already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been conducting a ground offensive since August.
A Ukrainian official told the Associated Press that North Korean troops are now stationed 30 miles (50km) away from the Ukrainian border with Russia. The official was not authorised to disclose the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.A Ukrainian official told the Associated Press that North Korean troops are now stationed 30 miles (50km) away from the Ukrainian border with Russia. The official was not authorised to disclose the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Russia has had to shift some resources to Kursk to respond to Ukraine’s offensive there. US leaders have suggested that the use of North Korean forces to augment Russia’s defences indicates that Moscow’s losses during the war have significantly degraded its military strength. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has not denied the deployment of North Korean troops to his country but has also refused to confirm it.
North Korea has also provided munitions to Russia. Earlier this month, the White House released images it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment to Russia by rail. Moscow’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, said on Wednesday that Pyongyang’s forces were not present on the frontlines, deeming any suggestion to the contrary as “barefaced lies” and accusing Washington and London of “disinformation”.
Miroslav Jenca, the UN’s assistant secretary-general for Europe, meanwhile said the UN had been following reports of the North Korean deployment to Russia with “serious concern”, but could not independently confirm them.
Pyongyang has denied sending troops to Russia, but its vice foreign minister said that were such a deployment to happen, it would be in line with global norms.
North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui was in Moscow on Wednesday to hold “strategic” talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, while Wang Yi – the top diplomat for China, Pyongyang’s chief diplomatic ally – discussed the Ukraine crisis with Russia’s deputy foreign minister in Beijing.
With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press