Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that of the 10,000 North Korean troops that Washington says have entered Russia, up to 8,000 were deployed in the Kursk regionon the border with Ukraine.
We have not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we expect this to happen in the coming daysadded Mr. Blinken during a joint press conference with US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.
Russia, which equipped North Korean soldiers with Russian uniforms, trained North Korean troops artillery, drones, basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that it fully intends to use these forces in frontline operationshe clarified.
Make no mistake: If these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targetswarned Mr. Austin.
The latter immediately indicated that the United States was preparing to announce in the next days new military aid to Ukraine.
Especially since, according to South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Pyongyang has provided more than 1.000 missiles to Russia.
Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the Western reaction to this deployment. I think the reaction to this is zero, it’s been zerohe said in an interview with South Korean media.
– Range of at least 5,500 km –
Discussions between Americans and South Koreans in Washington on Thursday come as North Korea fired one of its most powerful missiles with the stated objective of strengthening its nuclear deterrent.
This missile, according to Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, belongs to the category of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)which have a range of at least 5,500 kilometers and are generally designed to carry nuclear charges, and capable of reaching the territory of the United States.
Pyongyang confirmed a test crucialfalling within the framework of its desire to strengthen its nuclear forces and supervised by its leader Kim Jong Un.
The test firing (…) fully meets the objective of informing our rivals (…) of our desire to retaliateMr. Kim said during the launch, according to the North Korean state agency KCNA.
China, as a close neighbor of the Korean Peninsulasaid to herself concerned about the evolving situationthrough the voice of the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, who called for a political resolution of the peninsula question.
For their part, Western capitals said strongly condemn this new North Korean missile launch, denouncing a violation flagrante resolutions of the UN Security Council. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres did the same.
We urge North Korea to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyonddeclared the American Secretary of State and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, following a telephone call Thursday.
Under UN sanctions, Pyongyang is prohibited from carrying out any weapons tests using ballistic technology.
– Divert attention –
The South Korean army warned on Wednesday that the nuclear-armed North was preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, or even carry out a nuclear test, before the November 5 election in the United States.
Photo broadcast by the North Korean state agency KCNA of the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile by Pyongyang, October 31, 2024
North Korean shooting appears to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of the deployment of its troops in Russia, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
It came hours after Washington and Seoul called on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia, two and a half years after Vladimir Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.
South Korea, a major arms exporter, has said it is exploring the possibility of sending weapons directly to Ukraine as a response, something it has previously opposed due to of a long-standing policy preventing it from supplying weapons in active conflicts.
North Korea has recently strengthened its military ties with Moscow, with the Russian president making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, where he signed a mutual defense agreement with Kim Jong Un.
