The involvement of North Korean troops in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine would be a "significant escalation," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Oct. 21 after talks with the South Korean president.
Moscow is planning to involve Pyongyang in the full-scale war against Ukraine in the coming months, with around 10,000 North Korean soldiers being prepared to join the Russian army, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said that the first group of 2,600 soldiers will be deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukraine began a cross-border incursion in August and still holds significant swathes of territory. He said that close to 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and will be "ready to fight" in Ukraine by Nov. 1.
"North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine would mark a significant escalation," Rutte said on social media following a conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, without explicitly confirming the reports.
The two discussed NATO’s close partnership with Seoul, defense industrial cooperation, and the interconnected security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the reckless military alignment between Russia and North Korea once again confirm that the security of the Indo-Pacific region and the Atlantic region are inextricably linked," Yoon said, according to the Yonhap news agency.
"This undermines the rules-based international order, threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and globally, and the (South Korean) government will never stand by and let this happen."
Chris York
While the United States is cautious about confirming Russia's plans to engage Pyongyang in its war, South Korea is sounding the alarm, calling such a scenario a "grave security threat" to the international community.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it believes North Korea will deploy four brigades totaling 12,000 soldiers to the war in Ukraine, including 1,500 special forces.
Up until now, Seoul has only provided humanitarian aid to Kyiv, though it has been reported the country has indirectly supplied artillery shells via the U.S.
In June, South Korea said it would reconsider its policy of not directly supplying Ukraine with weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un signed a security agreement in Pyongyang.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
