A firefighter extinguishes the remains of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities claimed to be made in North Korea, at a site of a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, January 2, 2024 [File: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters]
ALJAZEERA |
Published October 31, 2024
South Korea, US say 3,000 North Korean troops are entering combat imminently, but experts are unsure that will fundamentally change the course of the war.
Ukraine prepared to fight North Korean troops in the Russian region of Kursk on Wednesday, as the entry of a second nuclear power in Russia’s war against Ukraine threatened to escalate and broaden the conflict.
The United States Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that North Korean troops were in Kursk, where Ukraine launched a counter-invasion almost three months ago.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said there was “a small number [of North Korean troops] in the Kursk oblast, with a couple of thousand more that are almost there or due to arrive imminently”.
A senior South Korean official told reporters on Wednesday that about 3,000 North Korean troops were being moved close to the front lines.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed the deployment on Monday. “Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean army units are deployed to the Kursk region,” he told reporters.
He called it “a significant escalation in the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s] ongoing involvement in Russia’s illegal war”, and “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war”.
Ryder confirmed that North Korea had sent a total of 10,000 troops for training in eastern Russia. South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence last week suggested the number could be as high as 12,000.
The extent to which these troops could help Russia’s war effort is unclear because Russian personnel requirements are enormous.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: US warns North Korea that its soldiers will return in ‘body bags’ if they enter Ukraine
“I would advise Chairman Kim to think twice before engaging in such a reckless and dangerous action,” said Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood at the UN Security Council.
VOZ |
Published October 31, 2024
The defense chiefs of the United States and South Korea on Wednesday called on North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia, where Washington claims some 10,000 military personnel have been deployed for possible use against Ukrainian forces.
“I call on you to withdraw your troops from Russia,” demanded the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, speaking alongside his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-Hyun, for whom this military deployment could “lead to an escalation of security threats on the Korean peninsula.”
Austin said Washington “will continue to work with allies and partners to deter Russia from employing these troops in combat,” which he accused of being equipped with Russian uniforms and weapons.
In a more explicit message addressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the U.S. delegation to the UN hours later warned North Korea that its soldiers will return in “body bags” if they enter Ukraine.
“I would advise Chairman Kim to think twice before engaging in such a reckless and dangerous action,” Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood hurled at the Security Council.
Russia’s envoy to the United Nations had minutes earlier at the same forum denied the presence of North Korean troops in its ranks in the war in Ukraine, calling the comments “mere assertions.”
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SOURCE: www.voz.us
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