NATO on Monday confirmed that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and military units have been deployed to the country’s western Kursk region, where Ukraine is mounting cross-border attacks, marking the latest sign of Pyongyang’s growing involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
“NATO calls on Russia and the DPRK to cease these actions immediately,” Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters after a delegation from South Korea briefed the North Atlantic Council and other Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, Japan and New Zealand — regarding North Korea’s troop movement. DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
Rutte also criticized Pyongyang for already “fueling a major conflict in the heart of Europe and undermining global peace and security” by supplying Russia with “millions of rounds of ammunition and ballistic missiles,” according to his statement released by NATO.
“In exchange, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is providing North Korea with military technology and other support to circumvent international sanctions,” he added.
Screengrab of footage posted on social media by a Ukraine government-related organization on Oct. 18, 2024, shows troops apparently dispatched from North Korea at a military facility in eastern Russia. (Kyodo)
Photo provided by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Oct. 18, 2024, shows satellite imagery taken on Oct. 16 of a military facility in Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East where the agency says about 240 North Korean troops have been deployed. (Yonhap/Kyodo)
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