It would be a “dangerous and deeply concerning development” if North Korea sent troops to help Russia in Ukraine, the United States said on Monday as South Korea and Britain warned of a high price Moscow might pay Pyongyang.
“We are discussing with our allies and partners about the impact of this extraordinary step,” US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the 15-member UN Security Council. Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Pyongyang of preparing to send 10,000 troops to Russia. The UN ambassador to Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Security Council on Monday: “These forces are expected to be ready to fight against Ukraine on November 1.”
A Ukrainian government agency says North Korea has sent troops to Russia to support military operations in Ukraine. An unverified video allegedly shows North Koreans picking up Russian uniforms and military equipment.
South Korea’s intelligence agency said last week that North Korea had sent 1,500 special forces to Russia’s Far East for training and familiarization with battlefields and that they might be sent to fight in Ukraine.
“If true, this points to a very dangerous and concerning development and an apparent deepening of the DPRK’s military ties to Russia,” Wood said of the reports, using North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
‘Scare’
The Kremlin earlier on Monday declined to answer a question about whether North Korean troops would fight in Ukraine, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow’s cooperation with Pyongyang was not aimed at third countries.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of being “distracted by the spread of scaremongering and Iranian, Chinese and Korean bogeymen, each more absurd than the last.”
British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward said that there is a high possibility that North Korea will send troops.
“It looks like it’s difficult [Russian President Vladimir] “Putin realizes that he is wooing the Russian people into cannon fodder, the more willing he is to rely on the DPRK for his illegal war,” he said.
Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, US ambassador Robert Wood revealed reports that North Korea is sending troops to help Russia in its war with Ukraine. While he said it was a ‘sign of desperation’ suggesting the Kremlin was short of manpower, he warned that the military commitment between the two countries was a serious concern.
The UN ambassador in South Korea, Joonkook Hwang, also warned the council about the consequences of this move.
“North Korea will expect a lot of benefits from Moscow by returning its soldiers. It could be military or financial aid. It could be technology related to nuclear weapons,” he said.
North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and those measures have been tightened over the years – with Russian support.
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