First batch of North Korean troops 'set to arrive in Russia's Kursk'

By Park Ung Posted : October 23, 2024, 14:41 Updated : October 23, 2024, 16:33
 
A group of soldiers, believed to be North Koreans dispatched to Russia, is seen at an undisclosed location, in this grab from a video clip released by the independent Russian media outlet Astra.
SEOUL, October 23 (AJP) - The first batch of North Korean troops allegedly dispatched to Russia is likely to be deployed in Kursk, a Russian territory occupied by Ukraine, as early as this week, a Ukrainian military leader claimed on Tuesday. 

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate made the claim, in an interview with American military magazine The War Zone, also known as TWZ.
   
"We are waiting for the first units tomorrow in the Kursk direction," the lieutenant general told the magazine. "It is unclear at the moment how many or how they will be equipped. We will see after a couple of days."

Hundreds of square kilometers of Kursk Oblast, which borders the northeastern part of Ukraine, has been occupied by Ukrainian forces following a cross-border incursion in August.
 
The previous day, North Korea dismissed allegations of sending troops to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, calling them "groundless stereotype-type rumors." Despite the denials, reports of its suspected involvement in the war continue to mount, with a couple of video clips circulating that allegedly show North Korean troops at a military training camp in Russia.

South Korea is set to send a group of experts to Brussels soon, where the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is located, to share more detailed information about the deployment.

"I asked [South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol] and he said I will absolutely do that to send experts..... to brief the North Atlantic Council. That will now happen early next week. And then we will see whether North Korea is indeed or not supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine," said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday. "We will see whether North Korea is indeed, or not, supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. If that would be the case, if they would be sending troops to Ukraine, that would mark a significant escalation," he added.
 
But the chief of the 32-nation military alliance still remained cautious, saying "At this moment, I cannot confirm it. Other than that we will get the latest update from South Korea early next week."
 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2nd from left) attends a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kyiv, Ukraine on Oct. 21, 2024. AP-Yonhap
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on global leaders not to "shy away" from responding to the deepening military alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow during his nightly address on Tuesday.

"We have information about the preparation of two units of military personnel from North Korea - potentially even two brigades of 6,000 people each," he said. "But we know how to respond to this challenge. It's important that our partners do not shy away from this challenge as well."
Park Ung

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