North Korea gains combat experience fighting in Ukraine, boosting regional threat, US warns

North Korea is gaining valuable combat experience from its troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, enhancing its ability to wage war against neighboring countries, a senior U.S. official said on Jan. 8.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has strengthened both diplomatic and military ties with Pyongyang. According to Dorothy Camille Shea, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., over 12,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia and began engaging Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region last month.

North Korea "is significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology, and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors," Shea said during a U.N. Security Council meeting. The council convened to discuss Pyongyang’s recent test of an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile. "In turn, the DPRK will likely be eager to leverage these improvements to promote weapons sales and military training contracts globally."

North Korea’s UN ambassador, Kim Song, defended Monday's missile test, describing it as part of efforts to strengthen the country's defense. He accused the United States of hypocrisy: "When the civilian death toll exceeded 45,000 in Gaza, United States embellished Israel’s nefarious mass killing atrocity as the right to self-defense… Meanwhile, it takes issue with the legitimate exercise of the right to self-defense of the DPRK."

Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, repeated longstanding claims that the U.S., South Korea, and Japan provoke North Korea through military drills. He dismissed U.S. allegations of plans to share satellite and space technology with Pyongyang as "wholly unsubstantiated."

South Korea’s UN ambassador, Joonkook Hwang, condemned North Korea’s deployment of soldiers to Russia, describing them as "essentially slaves to Kim Jong-un, brainwashed to sacrifice their lives on faraway battlefields to raise money for his regime and secure advanced military technology from Russia."

North Korea has faced U.N. sanctions since 2006, aimed at halting its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. However, with Russia holding veto power in the Security Council, any additional measures are unlikely to advance.

Zelensky urges China to help stop North Korean military aid to Russia

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged China to use its influence over North Korea to prevent the deployment of North Korean soldiers to the frontline, during his evening address on Dec. 27.

The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil