US says it expects North Korean troops to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days

CNN —

As many as 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days, top US officials announced Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts in Washington, said the troops have been trained “in artillery, UAVs, basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in frontline operations.”

Although the US has not yet seen the troops engaged in the actual fighting, Blinken warned Thursday that “should these troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would become legitimate military targets.”

The 8,000 North Korean troops now in Kursk represent a majority of the 10,000 the US says were deployed to Russia. The announcement of their impending use in combat comes as the US and its allies weigh how to respond to the escalating military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.

“We are consulting closely with our allies and partners in other countries in the region on these reckless developments and on our response,” Austin said at Thursday’s press conference. The US will announce additional military support to Ukraine “in the coming days,” Blinken said.

Ukrainian forces have held territory in Kursk since launching a surprise incursion into the Russian border region in August. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for South Korea to take a more active role in supporting Kyiv, warned Thursday that when the North Korean troops are deployed, “they will be pushed forward, sustaining heavy losses, as Russia tries to minimize its own troop mobilization.”

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