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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment are moving toward Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilizing development.
Austin was speaking at a press conference in Washington with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, as concerns grow about Pyongyang’s deployment of as many as 12,000 troops to Russia.
The US and South Korea say some of the North Korean troops are heading to Russia’s Kursk region on the border with Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.
Some North Korean advance units have already arrived in the Kursk region, and Austin said “the likelihood is pretty high” that Russia will use the troops in combat.
North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has triggered alarms across the globe, as leaders worry about how it may expand the war in Ukraine and what Russian military aid will be delivered to Pyongyang in exchange.
Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, said they expect as many as 4,500 North Korean troops to be at the border this week and to begin directly participating in combat operations against Ukrainian forces in November.
Austin said officials are discussing what to do about the deployment, which he said has the potential to broaden or lengthen the conflict in Ukraine. Asked if it could prompt other nations to get more directly involved in the conflict, he acknowledged that it could “encourage others to take action” but provided no details.
“This is something that we’re going to continue to watch, and we’re going to continue to work with our allies and partners to discourage Russia from employing these troops in combat,” Austin said.
