North Korean soldiers march during a mass military parade in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square [File: Ng Han Guan/AP Photo]
ALJAZEERA | Published November 5, 2024
A combat role for Pyongyang’s troops risks the entry of a third state into the conflict prompted by Moscow’s invasion in 2022.
Thousands of North Korean troops are now on the ground in Russia ready to support its war on Ukraine, including in the front-line Kursk region, South Korea has reported.
Over 10,000 North Korean soldiers have arrived in Russia, Seoul’s defence ministry said on Tuesday. The report follows similar announcements from Ukraine and the United States, with fears rising that the deployment of Pyongyang’s forces on the battlefield could mark an escalation of the war to include a third state.
“More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia, and we assess that a significant portion of them are deployed to front-line areas, including Kursk,” spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou told a briefing.
The remarks came hours after the US Pentagon said that at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Kursk. Ukraine’s forces control parts of the border region following an incursion launched in August.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency has said that about 12,000 North Korean troops, including 500 officers and three generals, are in Russia, undertaking training at military bases.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called in a social media post for a response from Western allies.
“Currently, there are already eleven thousand [North Korean military personnel] stationed in the Kursk region,” he wrote. “We see an increase in North Korean forces, but, unfortunately, we do not see an increase in response from our partners.”
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: First North Korean troops come under fire in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian official claims
TOPSHOT – Korean People’s Army (KPA) soldiers gather as they prepare to pay their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as part of celebrations marking the birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, known as the ‘Day of the Shining Star’, on Mansu hill in Pyongyang on Feb. 16, 2019. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
THE KYIV INDEPENDENT | Published November 4, 2024
The first North Korean soldiers stationed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast to aid Moscow’s war have come under fire, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, reported on Nov. 4.
The official did not provide any more details on the circumstances of the engagement or possible losses on the North Korean side.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Some 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk Oblast to participate in the war against Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference on Oct. 31.
The Russian border region has seen heavy battles since Ukraine launched a cross-border offensive in early August. Moscow has deployed North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast to reinforce the defenses there while its most experienced units continue advancing in Ukraine’s east.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if Ukraine had permission to use Western long-range weapons on Russian territory, it could preemptively target “every camp” in Russia where North Korean troops are gathering.
Recently, Kyiv has been issuing warnings that the deployment of North Korean troops in combat is only a matter of days. Ukraine believes that Russia is preparing to send 12,000 North Korean soldiers to join its war, including special forces.
According to Zelensky, Russia has confirmed to the West the involvement of Pyongyang’s forces in the war.
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SOURCE: www.kyivindependent.com
RELATED: With North Korea’s troops in Russia, South Koreans weigh role in Ukraine
South Korea’s president has suggested Seoul could supply weapons to Kyiv, marking a major foreign policy shift.
South Korean K2 tanks participate in a military parade to celebrate South Korea’s 76th Armed Forces Day in Seoul on October 1, 2024 [Anthony Wallace/AFP]
ALJAZEERA | Published November 4, 2024
Seoul, South Korea – When Yang Seung-ji heard that thousands of North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine, she began searching online for the nearest emergency shelter.
Yang is concerned that tensions between North and South Korea, which have been aggravated by Pyongyang’s reported involvement in the war in Ukraine, could spill over into an armed confrontation.
“I worried that public transportation would be down and make me unable to go back home,” the 25-year-old job seeker, who recently moved from the regional city of Chungju to Seoul, about 50 km (30 miles) from the inter-Korean border, told Al Jazeera.
“We thought about packing our stuff and stacking some food in our apartment.”
“Ever since hearing about North Korea’s balloons carrying rubbish landing in parts of Seoul, there’s just a sense that things are escalating,” Yang added.
The United States Department of Defense said last week that up to 10,000 North Korean soldiers are undergoing training in Russia as Moscow looks to reinforce its troop strength in the nearly three-year-long war, corroborating earlier statements by Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
