Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 8,000 North Korean troops have deployed to the Kursk region in Russia. (Defense Department)
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that 8,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia’s Kursk region and the U.S. expects to see them fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine in the coming days.
“Russia has been training [North Korean] soldiers in artillery, [drones], basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in front-line operations,” Blinken said during a news conference following a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korea’s foreign affairs and defense ministers.
Pentagon officials reported earlier in the week that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were training in eastern Russia, including that a small number of them were already in Kursk near the border with Ukraine and another roughly 2,000 troops were moving toward the region.
“This 10,000 won’t come close to replacing the numbers that the Russians have lost. I think they’re at a point now that if they got to go seeking for assistance to a country like [North Korea], I think they have some problems,” Austin said.
Despite the addition of North Korean forces, Austin said Ukrainian troops in Russia can hold on to Kursk, which they attacked in August.
Austin had said Wednesday following an initial meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun that North Korean troops are being outfitted in Russian uniforms and equipment as they move from training in eastern Russia to the Kursk region. He acknowledged North Korean troops joining the fight in Ukraine could encourage other nations to take action. But he did not elaborate.
During a joint news conference, Austin and Kim condemned North Korea for supplying troops to Russia for its war against Ukraine. Within hours, North Korea carried out a rare intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was present at the launch site and described it as an “appropriate military action” in response to unnamed “rivals” who “intentionally intensified the regional situation,” according to a report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday.
Kim typically means the U.S., South Korea and Japan when he refers to rivals, whose actions he said underscore “the importance of strengthening our nuclear forces,” according to KCNA.
Austin said Thursday, while early in the assessment, the U.S. does not see any indication there was Russian involvement in the launch.
During their meetings, U.S. and South Korean officials discussed what North Korea could get in exchange for sending troops to Russia. Kim said Wednesday that there is a “high chance” that North Korea will ask Russia for technological help to advance its tactical nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles, reconnaissance satellites and ballistic missile submarines.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the Ukraine invasion, more than 600,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured in the fighting there, Pentagon officials have said. The estimate is a sharp increase from estimates early in the year that were in the 350,000 range.
“Russia has been suffering some 1,200 casualties a day in the east, more than at any other time during the war. And with the deployment of these North Korean troops … this is the first time in 100 years that Russia has invited foreigners into its country,” Blinken said.
The war in Ukraine has raged since Russian forces invaded in February 2022. Since then, the U.S. has provided about $59.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Austin and Blinken said more security assistance will be announced in the coming days.
