US confirms North Korean troops in Russia, may be used in Ukraine

The US and its Nato allies have warned that using North Korean troops in combat would represent a major escalation in the conflict between Moscow and the Washington-led West.

The US has said thousands of North Korean troops are being trained in Russia and might be used to reinforce Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine.

At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers arrived by ship earlier this month at the Russian port of Vladivostok and moved to several training sites in eastern Russia, according to a senior Biden administration official Wednesday, confirming earlier assertions by Ukraine and South Korea.

“We don’t yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is an acute and highly concerning possibility,” the official said. “After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.” The prospect that North Korean forces could enter the war highlights both Moscow’s military shortfalls and its growing reliance on support from US adversaries. It also illustrates how the conflict could have implications for areas outside Europe, such as Northeast Asia.

The Biden administration has yet to say how it plans to respond to the training of North Korean troops and their potential employment in combat against Ukrainian forces.

The US and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies have warned that using North Korean troops in combat would represent a major escalation in the conflict between Moscow and the Washington-led West.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin. Picture: AFP.

If their intention is to “participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue,” said US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in remarks to reporters in Rome.

The senior administration official said that the US was consulting with allies on how to respond. In coming days, the US will announce sanctions “targeting the enablers of Russia’s war in Ukraine located outside of Russia,” the official said.

North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world due to its nuclear weapons and missile programs. But it has been able to evade some of those sanctions through illicit trade, cyber theft and other means.

Ukraine’s top military intelligence official said the North Korean troops are expected to arrive in Russia’s Kursk region as soon as next week to help Moscow fight Ukrainian forces there.

Kirby said that any North Korean troops deployed to fight Ukrainian forces would be “fair game” for Kyiv to attack.

North Korea has already provided ballistic missiles and artillery shells to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But the use of North Korean personnel would mark a significant increase in Pyongyang’s help for Moscow’s war effort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already sought to compensate for military shortfalls by turning to Iran and China. Iran has supplied drones and short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. China has provided vital components to Russia’s defence industry.

Russian forces have suffered enormous casualties in the Ukraine conflict – more than 600,000 killed and wounded since the invasion, according to a senior Pentagon official.

“You’ve seen DPRK provide arms and munitions to Russia – and this is a next step,” Austin told reporters in Rome, using the formal acronym for North Korea.

While 3,000 North Korean troops are unlikely to turn the tide of battle in a conflict in which Russia has marshaled hundreds of thousands troops inside Ukraine, their participation would mark the first time that a Russian ally has sent ground forces to fight for Moscow. South Korean intelligence officials have told lawmakers in Seoul that Pyongyang has promised to send 10,000 troops to Russia by December.

North Korea troops could enable the Kremlin to carry on its military campaign against Ukraine without resorting to politically unpopular steps, such as sending conscripts into combat or mobilising additional forces. They could also ease Russian manpower shortages even if not in a combat role by guarding military bases or other tasks.

The reported number of North Korean troops is too small to have a significant impact in Ukraine, said Thomas Graham, a former White House adviser on Russian affairs in the Bush administration, Pyongyang may have asked for training to learn lessons that Russian troops have acquired in Ukraine, said Graham, a scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“The request might have been to take a few thousand of their troops to the front, see what real battlefield conditions are like,” he said.

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