Members of the Korean Veterans Association hold a rally against the recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia near the Russian Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. The yellow banners read, “Stop the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.” | Photo Credit: AP
NATO confirmed on Monday (Oct 28, 2024) that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia to assist in its nearly three-year war against Ukraine and some have already been deployed to Russia’s Kursk border region, Where Russia is struggling to move forward. Ukrainian invasion back.
“Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and North Korean military units have been deployed in the Kursk area,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters.
Read also, Russia moves to ratify North Korea defense treaty; Seoul issued warning
Mr Rutte said the move represented a “significant increase” in North Korea’s involvement in the conflict and a “dangerous escalation of Russia’s war”.
His comments came after a high-level South Korean delegation, including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats, briefed the alliance’s 32 national ambassadors at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Mr Rutte said NATO was “actively consulting within the alliance, with Ukraine, and with our Indo-Pacific partners” on developments and that he expected to speak soon with the president of South Korea and the defense minister of Ukraine. Are going to. “We are monitoring the situation closely,” he said.
The involvement of thousands of North Korean troops in Europe’s largest conflict since World War II would put greater pressure on Ukraine’s exhausted and overextended military, as well as on the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia. -Political tensions will increase, Western officials say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to reshape global power dynamics. He tried to balance Western influence at a summit of BRICS countries, including the leaders of China and India, in Russia last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, citing intelligence reports, said, Last Friday it was claimed that North Korean soldiers would be on the battlefield within a few days,
He previously said his government had information that about 10,000 North Korean soldiers were being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against their country.
Days before Mr. Zelensky spoke, American and South Korean officials said there was evidence that North Korea had sent troops to Russia.
The US said about 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia for training.
published – October 28, 2024 06:03 PM IST