The United States, along with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the European Union, released a joint statement November 6 expressing grave concern over the deployment of DPRK troops to Ukraine.
The statement noted that the DPRK’s direct support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine “would mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific peace and security. It would be a further breach of international law, including the most fundamental principles of the UN Charter.”
There are some 10,000 North Korean troops in eastern Russia with most currently in the Kursk Oblast. There have been reports of clashes between Ukrainian and DPRK forces in Kursk.
As U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “This is the first time in more than a century that Russia has welcomed foreign troops onto its own soil.” The reason why, he noted, is that “Putin’s forces have suffered serious losses.”
“In recent months, Ukrainian forces have caused more than 1200 Russian casualties per day – more than at any other time during Putin’s war. And by tin cupping to North Korea for manpower, Putin is showing the world another clear sign of weakness. The Kremlin’s North Korean gambit just underscores how badly Putin’s war has gone, and how much trouble he’s in.”
During a recent press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said time will tell “exactly how these [DPRK] forces are integrated into Russian operations and how they’re committed to the battlefield.”
“So inasmuch as that these are potentially forces that are coming in to replace the massive numbers of losses that Russia is experiencing, I think that’s probably a fair assessment, and I certainly would not want to be a North Korean soldier. ... The Ukrainians are battle-hardened veterans who know how to fight. And so every indication [is] that they will continue to defend Ukrainian sovereignty and continue to defend Kursk, the territory that they’ve taken.”
Major General Ryder emphasized that the United States continues “to consult very closely with our allies and partners. And we also continue to ensure that we’re working with Ukraine and some 50 nations to rush security assistance to Ukraine, to defend Ukrainian sovereignty both here and elsewhere in the battlefield.”
