Some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia near Ukraine’s border and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops in the coming days, the Biden administration said.
The new figure is a dramatic increase from a day earlier, when US defence secretary Lloyd Austin would only say “some” of the troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.
That also would mean most of the North Korean troops that the US and its allies say have been sent to Russia are now on the Russia-Ukraine border.
The US has estimated there are about 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia.
Seoul and its allies assess that the number has increased to 11,000, while Ukraine has put the figure higher, at up to 12,000.
Of the 8,000 in Kursk, “we’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces but we would expect that to happen in the coming days”, Mr Blinken said at a news conference with defence secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.
He said Russia has been training North Korean soldiers in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in front line operations”.
North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has raised concerns around the world about how that may expand the war and what Russian military aid will be delivered in exchange.
It has become a key topic as US and South Korean leaders met this week in Washington, fuelling concerns that the presence of those soldiers will further destabilise the Asia-Pacific and broaden Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the deployment “in the strongest possible terms” and called for an immediate withdrawal of the troops.
North Korea’s belligerent actions not only places the European continent but also the Korean peninsula under threat and that Seoul agrees “to take necessary measures accordingly”, he said.
There are questions about what new military technologies North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether it might lead other nations to send their own forces to fight in the war.
Also on Thursday, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland US.
Some experts speculated that Russia may have provided technological assistance to North Korea over the launch.
As the meeting in Washington was under way, the US, South Korea and Japan released a joint statement condemning the missile launch as a “flagrant violation” of numerous UN Security Council resolutions and criticising the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly the deployment of the North Korean troops.
“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.
In a dramatic moment during a UN Security Council meeting earlier Thursday, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, first noted the number of North Korean troops near Ukraine.
“And I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia?
“That’s my only question and final point,” he said.
The Russian representative at the meeting, called by Moscow to discuss international peace and security, did not respond to the comment.
The session was then adjourned.
Mr Austin says North Korean troops are wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment as they advance toward Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilising development.
North Korea also has provided munitions to Russia, and earlier this month, the White House released images it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.
