The US has said for the first time that it has seen evidence that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine, a development first disclosed by Ukraine and South Korea.
US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin said that it would be “very, very serious” if the North Koreans were preparing to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine, as Kyiv has alleged.
However, he said that it remained to be seen what they would be doing there.
Austin stated that the alleged North Korean deployment could be further evidence that the Russian military was having problems with manpower, after huge numbers of casualties on both sides in what has become a war of attrition.
Austin added that it could point to a shortage of Russian recruits. “This is an indication that he [Vladimir Putin] may be even in more trouble than most people realise,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, White House Spokesperson, John Kirby said that the US believes at least 3,000 North Korean troops are undergoing training in Russia.
He disclosed that the US determined the North Korean soldiers were transported by ship in early-to-mid October from North Korea’s Wonsan region to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok before being taken to three military training sites in eastern Russia.
“If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game. They’re fair targets and the Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers.”
John Kirby
In Seoul, South Korean lawmakers said that Pyongyang had promised to provide a total of about 10,000 troops, whose deployment was expected to be completed by December, the lawmakers told reporters after being briefed by South Korea’s national intelligence agency.
Park Sun-won, a member of a parliamentary intelligence committee, said after the briefing, that signs of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October, adding, “It appears that the troops have now been dispersed to multiple training facilities in Russia and are adapting to the local environment.”
The Kremlin has previously dismissed Seoul’s claims about the North’s troop deployment as “fake news”, and a North Korean representative to the United Nations called it “groundless rumours” at a meeting in New York on Monday.
A Foreboding Of A Broader Global Conflict
Lee Seong-Hyon, senior fellow at George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, said that the troop deployment could be a foreboding of a broader global conflict, potentially even the harbinger of a third world war.
He warned that while others might dismiss this notion as far-fetched, the initial triggers of both previous world wars were “similarly underestimated.”
“Though it may be tempting to seek a military solution, a diplomatic strategy to contain the military scope of the conflict remains the most prudent approach.
“We are at an inflection point in history. We, as a collective humanity, should prudently turn the page of history at this juncture.”
Lee Seong-Hyon
He added that Pyongyang, known as a “destabiliser” in Asia and the Indo-Pacific, now plays a direct role in the conflict, adding a new layer of unpredictability and testing Washington’s ability to manage global crises.
Also, Sydney Seiler, Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategies and International Studies (CSIS), said that every North Korean soldier helping the war cause frees up a Russian for combat.
According to him, Russia hopes the North’s support helps justify its war cause to a select audience that Moscow aims to court in its future vision of an anti-Western world order.
He said that other supporting countries may now perceive value in contributing, as North Korea has, to gain favour in Moscow’s eyes and could join the fight as well.
Seiler noted that Beijing had been measured in its comments on the Ukraine war because it was wary of regional tensions that could be detrimental to its interests.
