WASHINGTON: At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia and are training there, the United States said on Wednesday (Oct 23), warning that they would become legitimate targets for Kyiv if they engage in combat in Ukraine.
Russia and North Korea have boosted their political and military alliance amid the Ukraine war, with Pyongyang facing long-standing accusations of supplying arms to Moscow’s army.
But the deployment of troops to support Russian forces would be a significant escalation in that support and has prompted warnings from Kyiv and its Western backers, who separately said on Wednesday that they would make US$50 billion in lending available to aid Ukraine.
“We assess that between early to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.
The troops travelled by ship from North Korea to Vladivostok, and then went to “multiple Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training”, Kirby said.
“We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military,” but “if these North Korean soldiers decide to join the fight against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets”, he said.
