The US Secretary of Defense claims that the Korean factor could “expand and prolong the war.”
Pentagon Chairman Lloyd Austin reported that military personnel from North Korea, dressed in Russian uniforms and using Russian equipment, are moving to the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
According to The Guardian, at a press conference following a meeting with his counterpart from South Korea, the US Secretary of Defense said that he estimates the number of soldiers from the DPRK at 11 thousand people. Their involvement in combat is “extremely likely,” which, according to Austin, “could widen and prolong the conflict” and “prompt some allies to take the necessary measures.”
Austin also explained to journalists why the Russians are bringing fighters from the DPRK to the front: “Putin has lost a lot of his own troops and had to choose between this option and declaring mobilization.”
- President Volodymyr Zelensky reproached the United States and NATO for their insufficient response to the involvement of DPRK troops in the war in Ukraine.
- Joe Biden said that Ukraine should confront Korean soldiers “if they cross the border.”