State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller speaking during a press briefing at the department in Washington on June 7. [YONHAP]
KOREA JOONGANG DAILY | Published November 5, 2024
As many as 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s western front-line Kursk region and could engage in combat in the “coming days,” a State Department spokesperson said Monday, amid growing concerns that their involvement could expand Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Matthew Miller, the spokesperson made the remarks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message earlier that there are already 11,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region.
We now assess that as many as 10,000 have made their way to Kursk and could enter combat in the coming days,” Miller told a press briefing.
Asked if North Korean soldiers are already in combat, Miller said he could not directly confirm that.
“But as we have said, we expected that it was likely that they would enter into combat against Ukrainian forces,” he said. “And if they did, they would be legitimate military targets.”
In a separate press briefing, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the total number of North Korean service members in Russia could be between 11,000 to 12,000, including about 10,000 currently in the Kursk region.
He also noted that the total number of North Korean personnel in Russia could “go up slightly.”
Regarding reports of North Korean troops already in combat operations, Ryder said that the Pentagon is looking into those reports.
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SOURCE: www.korea.joongangdaily.joins.com
RELATED: North Korea’s reported troop dispatch to Russia
In this photo provided by the South Korean Defense Ministry. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, left, talks with European Union foreign pokicy chief, Josep Borrell, right, during a meeting at the Defense Ministry, in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, November 4, 2024.
Published November 4, 2024
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Top South Korean and European Union officials on Monday strongly condemned North Korea’s reported troop dispatch to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine and agreed to work together to try to block deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
North Korea’s alleged troop deployment threatens to expand the almost 3-year-long war and is causing security jitters in South Korea, where many worry Russia might reward the North by giving it sophisticated weapons technology or offering a defense commitment in the event of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
In a meeting in Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun and the EU’s visiting foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, expressed “serious concerns” about North Korea’s reported troop dispatch and “strongly condemned” it, according to a statement from the South Korean Defense Ministry.
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: UN chief ‘very concerned’ about reports of North Korean soldiers in Russia for deployment in Ukraine
UN chief says North Korean boots in Russia ‘represent a very dangerous escalation’
Published November 4, 2024
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres is “very concerned” about reports of North Korean troops on Russia’s soil and fears the “escalation of the war in Ukraine”, his spokesperson said.
Mr Guterres’s remarks come as the US intelligence confirmed thousands of North Korean troops are already on their way to Russia’s Kursk border region where Ukraine’s incursion is underway.
“The Secretary-General is very concerned about reports of troops from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea being sent to the Russian Federation, including their possible deployment to the conflict zone,” said Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesperson.
This would represent a very dangerous escalation of the war in Ukraine. Everything must be done to avoid any internationalisation of this conflict,” he warned in the statement on Sunday.
Mr Guterres backed his call for “all meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine”.
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SOURCE: www.independent.co.uk
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