Zelensky warns 10,000 North Korean troops preparing to fight with Russia

Brussels: Thousands of North Korean troops are being prepared to join Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky says, in a warning that a third nation wading into the hostilities could turn the conflict into a “world war”.

The Ukrainian President said his country had information that 10,000 troops from North Korea were ready to join Russian forces, as he met with European leaders and NATO defence ministers to discuss his so-called victory plan to end the country’s devastating war with Russia.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, says his war with Russia is heading towards a global conflict.

Zelensky cited intelligence reports that North Korea was providing military personnel to aid Moscow’s army, as well as workers for Russian factories to replace Russians killed in the war.

“We have information from our intelligence that … some officers of the North Korean army are already on Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian enemies. So they joined the Russian army,” Zelensky said, adding he could not give the exact number that were already on the ground.

He said while he was unable to give further details, he believed Russia was planning to train and engage not only infantry but also North Korean specialists in various branches of the military, describing it as the “first step to the World War”.

“We know about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea they are preparing to send to fight against us,” he said. “Iran gave [Russia] drones, licence to produce these drones and missiles. But not people, not officially.”

Zelensky says North Korean troops are being prepared to fight with Russia in Ukraine.Credit: AP

The claim came a day after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said they were alarmed by North Korea’s military support for Russia’s war but added they could not confirm Ukrainian claims that soldiers had been sent to fight for Moscow.

Under self-styled supreme leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has been a major ally of Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine, which began when Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The US has accused Pyongyang of sending artillery to Russia throughout the war, which both countries have denied.

The Kyiv Post and Interfax-Ukraine this week quoted intelligence sources saying six North Korean officers were killed on the Russian frontline near the Donetsk region in Ukraine on October 3.

While they haven’t corroborated them, US and NATO officials said they have no reason to believe the reports are not true. The US has obtained some intelligence that could eventually help them make a clear determination, the Wall Street Journal reported.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte greets Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy in Brussels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years in June, when he and Kim signed a so-called “comprehensive strategic partnership pact” with a clause similar to Article 5 of NATO, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

The talks in Brussels come as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold off better-equipped Russian forces, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where they are gradually being pushed back. Kyiv is surviving with Western help, but Ukraine says it is coming too slowly.

Rutte said Zelensky could rest “absolutely assured” that the 32-member alliance was united in making sure that, collectively, they would do “whatever is needed to make sure that Ukraine can prevail”.

“Putin will not get his way,” he said while reiterating that Ukraine’s place was among NATO’s ranks, without saying when it might join officially.

He said the war in Ukraine had shown that instability in Europe could have far-reaching consequences around the world.

“Countries thousands of miles away – as far away as Iran, China and even North Korea – can become security spoilers in our own backyard,” he said. “Our world is closely linked – and so is our security.”

Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who formally announced the government was gifting 49 retiring M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv while in Brussels, said the action was not just about supporting Ukraine, but about the signal it sent to the rest of the world.

“What happens in Europe affects us in the Indo-Pacific, and what happens in Indo-Pacific affects those in Europe,” he said. “Everything is linked nowadays, and we need to protect the rules-based global order and deter coercion and aggression.”

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