Photo: Korean Central News Agency via KNS/Agence France-Presse “We believe that these soldiers… have joined several Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training,” a White House spokesperson said. Pictured here are North Korean troops on October 2, in their home country.
Léon Bruneau – Agence France-Presse, Victoria Lukovenko – Agence France-Presse, Kang Jin-kyu – Agence France-Presse respectively in Washington and Seoul
Published at 17:30
- Asia
Thousands of North Korean troops — as many as “3,000” — have been sent to Russia, the United States said Wednesday, in a move that kyiv and the West see as a risk of a major escalation in the war in Ukraine.
“We have evidence that North Korean troops have gone to […] Russia,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters.
“What exactly they [the North Koreans] are doing ? remains to be seen,” he continued. “Whether they are co-belligerents, whether they intend to participate in this war on behalf of Russia, that is a very, very serious question.” »
US President Joe Biden also warned on Wednesday that “tyrants” will have to pay: the United States announced a $20 billion loan to Ukraine that will be repaid by the interest on frozen Russian assets, as part of a G7 action.
According to Washington, “between early and mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 troops” into eastern Russia, confirming information provided by South Korea.
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“We believe these troops traveled by boat from the Wonsan region of North Korea to Vladivostok, Russia, and then to several Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The United States does not know whether they will fight alongside the Russian military, he said, but called it a “very concerning possibility.”
But if so, the troops would be “legitimate military targets,” he warned.
“Unfounded rumor,” Pyongyang says
In Brussels, a NATO spokeswoman warned of a “significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war.”
This is the first time that Washington and its allies have publicly mentioned “evidence” of the presence of these North Korean soldiers on Russian soil.
According to South Korea, some of them are to go to the front later.
North Korea has denied providing Russia with forces for its offensive in Ukraine, with a Pyongyang representative at the UN calling it a “baseless rumor.”
“The armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea exist, and where are they located? ? Ask Pyongyang, please!” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, denouncing “media hype.”
kyiv calls on them to surrender
Some 10,000 North Korean troops are to be deployed on Russian soil by December, Rep. Park Sun-won, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters in Seoul after a briefing with the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said the first North Korean troops were expected to arrive in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, on Wednesday. kyiv has controlled several hundred square kilometres of territory since its surprise offensive launched in early August.
South Korean intelligence had assured last week that North Korea had decided to send up to 12,000 soldiers to help Russia and that some 1,500 men from its special forces were already in Russia to acclimatise before leaving for the front.
Ukraine called on Wednesday for the surrender of North Korean fighters who are already on its territory.
“You must not die in a foreign country for no reason,” a service run by Ukrainian military intelligence wrote in a message to them.
On Wednesday, the German Foreign Ministry announced that it had summoned North Korea's chargé d'affaires, citing a possible “violation of international law.” Its Austrian counterpart announced that it had done the same.
Pressure on the front
After almost three years of war, Ukraine finds itself in a critical military situation, with its troops having been retreating for months on the eastern front.
The Russian army, which is larger and better armed, regularly claims to have conquered villages, mainly in the Donetsk region in the east, and is advancing towards Pokrovsk, an important hub for Ukrainian military logistics.
It also continues to bomb Ukrainian cities and regions almost daily, due to the lack of sufficient anti-aircraft defense systems.
The Ukrainian Red Cross announced on Wednesday that one of its offices located in the Donetsk region, very close to the front line, had been destroyed “following a Russian attack”, which did not cause any casualties.