WASHINGTON: Thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia to receive training, said a senior US official on Wednesday. However, he said the ultimate mission of the soldiers is unclear.
South Korea’s intelligence agency has said Pyongyang deployed troops to assist its Russian ally, which is engaged in a war against Ukraine.
“We know that thousands of DPRK troops are in Russia to be trained. We don’t know what their mission will be or if they’ll go on to fight in Ukraine,” the senior US official told Western media.
The official said that Russia is suffering extraordinary casualties in the battleground every day. He said turning to DPRK for manpower, is a sign of desperation on the part of the Kremlin.
Earlier US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had provided the first confirmation from a US official of a North Korean deployment to Russia. “What exactly they’re doing? Left to be seen,” he told journalists.
NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah has said that allies have confirmed evidence of a DPRK troop deployment to Russia.
“If these troops are destined to fight in Ukraine, it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea’s support for Russia’s illegal war and yet another sign of Russia’s significant losses on the front lines,” Dakhlallah said in a statement.
Pyongyang and Moscow are getting closer since the war between Ukraine and Russia started in 2022, with Seoul and Washington claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been sending arms for the conflict.
South Korean intelligence agency last week said that North Korea had deployed an initial contingent of 1,500 special forces soldiers to Russia’s Vladivostok.
A lawmaker from South Korea, Park Sun-won said after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service that 1,500 more troops from the rival North had gone to Russia.
North Korea has denied deploying pf troops to Russia, while Moscow has not confirmed it.
