◀ Anchor ▶
The U.S. government officially confirmed that as many as 10,000 North Korean troops have been dispatched to Russia, and some have moved toward Ukraine.
At the same time, there were concerns about the possibility of combat with the Ukrainian military.
President Biden also expressed his position that it was “very dangerous.”
This is correspondent Wang Jong-myeong in Washington.
◀ Report ▶
Following the U.S. Department of Defense, the State Department announced that the number of North Korean troops deployed to Russia reaches 10,000.
It was then made official that some had moved to Kursk, western Russia, a combat zone.
[매슈 밀러/미국 국무부 대변인]
“A total of about 10,000 North Korean soldiers moved into eastern Russia. We saw some of these 10,000 moving west, closer to Ukraine.”
Just last week, the scale of troop deployment was mentioned at 3,000, but after the weekend, the announcement was made more than three times higher.
There were also concerns about the possibility of them directly engaging Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
“We are concerned that they (Russia) are trying to use these (North Korean troops) in Kursk to fight against Ukrainian forces or to support military operations.”
In particular, the Ministry of National Defense warned, “If North Korean troops are deployed to the battlefield, they will become legitimate targets of attack,” and that “Ukraine will not restrict the use of U.S. weapons against them.”
President Biden also gave his first public response.
He met with reporters after completing early voting for the presidential election and said the issue of sending North Korean troops was “very dangerous.”
[조 바이든/미국 대통령]
“It’s a very dangerous thing. The idea of Kamala’s opponent talking to Putin and discussing what to do…”
Former President Trump was mentioned with the expression “Harris’ opponent,” and it appears that he was trying to criticize Trump’s usual display of closeness with Russian President Putin.
The U.S. government announced that it would intensively discuss issues related to the dispatch of North Korean troops at the two-on-two meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and South Korea to be held this week.
This is Wang Jong-myeong from MBC News in Washington.
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