US President Joe Biden has said that Ukrainian forces should strike back if North Korean troops enter Ukrainian territory.
According to Reuters, commenting on the data on the presence of North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Biden said: “I am concerned about it.”
When asked whether Ukraine should strike back, he replied: “If they cross into Ukraine, yes.”
The Pentagon confirmed that North Korean troops that arrived in Russia for training had begun moving toward Kursk Oblast, while some of them are already present there.
According to the most recent US estimates, North Korea has sent approximately 10,000 troops to Russia for exercises and participation in hostilities against Ukraine.
CNN reports that some North Korean military personnel may already be in Ukraine.
On 8 October, South Korea’s Ministry of Defence reported that North Korea was likely to send some of its regular armed forces to the battlefield in Ukraine in support of Russia.
On 13 October, President Zelenskyy stated that North Korea was supplying Russia not only with weapons but also with military personnel, and called on partners to increase aid for Ukraine. On 14 October, Zelenskyy announced in his evening address that North Korea had de facto joined the war. On 17 October, Zelenskyy said Russia intended to recruit about 10,000 soldiers from North Korea for the war against Ukraine.
On 18 October, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, confirmed that about 11,000 North Korean infantrymen were currently undergoing training in Russia’s east. They will be ready to take part in combat actions against Ukraine as early as 1 November.
The first North Korean military units that have undergone training at training grounds in eastern Russia have arrived in the war zone. They were spotted in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces are conducting an operation, on 23 October.
On 28 October, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the presence of military personnel from North Korea on Russian territory, in particular in Kursk Oblast.
