North Korean troops reportedly on Russian frontline amid fears of escalation | War news between Russia and Ukraine

On By Littum

A combat role for Pyongyang’s troops risks the entry of a third country into the conflict prompted by Moscow’s 2022 invasion.

Thousands of North Korean troops are now on the ground in Russia ready to support its war against Ukraine, including in the frontline Kursk region, South Korea has reported.

Over 10,000 North Korean soldiers have arrived in Russia, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The report follows similar announcements from Ukraine and the United States, with fears growing that the deployment of Pyongyang’s forces to the battlefield could mark an escalation of the war to include a third state.

“More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia, and we estimate that a significant number of them have been deployed to frontline areas, including Kursk,” spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou told a briefing.

The remarks came hours after the US Pentagon said at least 10,000 North Korean troops were in Kursk. Ukraine’s forces control parts of the border region after an offensive launched in August.

Ukraine’s intelligence service has said about 12,000 North Korean troops, including 500 officers and three generals, are in Russia and training at military bases.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a social media post, called for a response from Western allies.

“Currently, there are already eleven thousand (North Korean military personnel) stationed in the Kursk region,” he wrote. “We are seeing an increase in North Korean forces, but unfortunately we are not seeing an increase in the response from our partners.”

Legitimate goals

Kyiv and Western officials have warned that the North Korean soldiers could be deployed on the battlefield against Ukraine immediately. UN diplomats have expressed hope that they could instead be deployed behind the front lines and restricted to logistical and other non-combat duties.

The United States warned Monday that Pyongyang’s troops would become legitimate military targets if they were to enter the battlefield.

“All indications are that they will provide some sort of combat or combat support capability,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said. “We would fully expect that the Ukrainians would do what they have to do to defend themselves and their personnel.”

Seoul spokesman Jeon said he could not confirm whether the North Korean troops were now engaged in combat. South Korean media have reported that as many as 40 North Korean troops have been killed on the battlefield.

Putin Kim
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his state visit to North Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 20, 2024 (KCNA via Reuters)

Officials in Kiev said Monday that the North Korean troops have already been targeted by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

“The first military personnel of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have already come under fire in the Kursk region,” the head of Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, wrote on Telegram.

‘Provocations’

Pyongyang’s supply of arms and troops to Russia has also raised alarm over what Moscow might do to Kim in return.

At a meeting in Seoul on Monday, South Korean Foreign and Trade Minister Cho Tae-yul and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed “deep concern” over the possible transfer of Russian nuclear or ballistic missile technology to North Korea.

Apparently timed for the start of the US presidential election, Pyongyang on Tuesday fired a salvo of ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said shortly after that the missile tests were a response to US “provocations” and a justified security measure.