‘Evidence for North Korean troops in Russia’

The United States says it has seen evidence for the first time that North Korean troops were present in Russia. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a statement to reporters today.

Austin said it would be “very, very bad” if​​​​North Korea was prepared to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine, as South Korea and Ukraine claim. However, he also said that it remains to be seen what North Korean troops will do in Ukraine.

In Seoul, South Korean lawmakers report that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia and thousands more are expected to follow. That number is twice as high as earlier estimate of the South Korean intelligence service.

The United States suspects that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are being trained at military bases in eastern Russia. This was reported by John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council.

According to Kirby, it was confirmed that the North Korean soldiers were transported by ship from the North Korean province of Wonsan to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok between early and mid-October. They were then taken to various military training facilities in eastern Russia.

According to the South Korean intelligence service, North Korean soldiers would receive Russian uniforms and IDs from Siberian regions such as Yakutia and Buryatia. The local population in Siberia and the population in North Korea share some physical characteristics.

The Kremlin has dismissed Seoul’s claims about the use of North Korean troops as fake news. North Korea’s representative to the United Nations in New York called the rumors “baseless” at a meeting on Monday.

The BBC has asked Belarus President Lukashenko about allegations that North Korean soldiers would be sent into Ukraine. He dismissed it as “nonsense”, the British channel reports. “Putin would never try to convince another country to involve its military in Russia’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine,” Lukashenko said.

The president of Belarus also said that “it would be a step towards escalating the conflict if the armed forces of any country were on the front line.”

These words correspond to the words of the head of NATO Mark Rutte earlier this week. He also said it would be a “huge escalation” if North Korea sent troops to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians.