Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte confirmed on Monday that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia to support its nearly three-year war against Ukraine.
Some of these troops have already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Russia has been facing difficulties in repelling a Ukrainian incursion. “Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters.
The confirmation came after a high-level South Korean delegation of top intelligence, military, and diplomatic officials briefed Nato’s 32 national ambassadors at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. Rutte said that Nato is “actively consulting within the alliance, with Ukraine, and with our Indo-Pacific partners” regarding these developments.
The addition of thousands of North Korean soldiers to the largest European conflict since World War II is expected to increase pressure on Ukraine’s already fatigued and overstretched army. Moreover, the deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea “is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” Rutte told reporters.
Rutte described this development as “a significant escalation” in North Korea’s involvement in the conflict and “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, citing intelligence reports, said last Friday that North Korean troops would be on the battlefield within days. He had previously claimed that his government had information indicating that around 10,000 North Korean troops were being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against Ukraine.
Just days before Zelenskyy’s statement, American and South Korean officials had already presented evidence of North Korea dispatching troops to Russia, with the US saying that approximately 3,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia for training purposes.
The Kremlin had dismissed reports about a North Korean troop deployment as “fake news”. But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia and said that it was Moscow’s business how to implement a partnership treaty with Pyongyang.