Members of the Korean Veterans Affiliation stage a rally in opposition to a latest deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, close to the Russian Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. Yellow banners learn, “Cease the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.”
| Photograph Credit score: AP
NATO on Monday (October 28, 2024) confirmed that North Korean troops have been despatched to Russia to assist in its virtually three-year struggle in opposition to Ukraine and that some have already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk border area, the place Russia has been struggling to push again a Ukrainian incursion.
“Right this moment, I can affirm that North Korean troops have been despatched to Russia, and that North Korean navy models have been deployed to the Kursk area,” NATO Secretary-Normal Mark Rutte informed reporters.
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Mr. Rutte mentioned that the transfer represents “a big escalation” in North Korea’s involvement within the battle and marks “a harmful growth of Russia’s struggle.”
His remarks got here after a high-level South Korean delegation together with high intelligence and navy officers in addition to senior diplomats briefed the alliance’s 32 nationwide ambassadors at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Mr. Rutte mentioned NATO is “actively consulting inside the alliance, with Ukraine, and with our Indo-Pacific companions,” on developments and that he’s resulting from discuss quickly with South Korea’s president and Ukraine’s defence minister. “We proceed to observe the state of affairs carefully,” he mentioned.
Including hundreds of North Korean troopers to Europe’s largest battle since World Warfare II will pile extra strain on Ukraine’s weary and overstretched military, in addition to stoking geopolitical tensions within the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific area, together with Japan and Australia, Western officers say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to reshape world energy dynamics. He sought to construct a counterbalance to Western affect with a summit of BRICS nations, together with the leaders of China and India, in Russia final week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, citing intelligence reviews, claimed final Friday that North Korean troops can be on the battlefield inside days.
He beforehand mentioned his authorities has info that some 10,000 troops from North Korea have been being readied to hitch Russian forces preventing in opposition to his nation.
Days earlier than Mr. Zelenskyy spoke, American and South Korean officers mentioned there was proof North Korea had dispatched troops to Russia.
The U.S. mentioned round 3,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia for coaching.
Printed – October 28, 2024 06:03 pm IST
