WASHINGTON: The US and South Korean defence chiefs on Wednesday (Oct 30) called for North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia, where Washington says some 10,000 of them have been deployed for possible action against Ukrainian forces.
Russia and North Korea have deepened their political and military alliance as the Ukraine war dragged on, but sending Pyongyang’s troops into combat against Kyiv’s forces would mark a significant escalation that has sparked widespread international concern.
“I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon, echoing a call by his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun, who stood beside him.
Austin said the United States will “continue to work with allies and partners to discourage Russia from employing these troops in combat”.
But there is a “good likelihood” that Moscow will still do so, according to the US defense secretary, who said that North Korean forces are being outfitted with Russian uniforms and weapons.
Kim, speaking through a translator, said he believes the North Korean deployment to Russia “can result in the escalation of the security threats on the Korean peninsula”.
That is because there is a “high chance” that Pyongyang will ask for technology transfers from Russia to aid its weapons programs – including on tactical nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles and reconnaissance satellites – in exchange for the deployment of its forces, he said.
But he did not announce a change to Seoul’s longstanding policy that bars it from selling weapons into active conflict zones including Ukraine – a stance it has stuck to despite calls from Washington and Kyiv to reconsider.
“RETURN IN BODY BAGS”
“At the current moment, nothing is determined,” Kim said when asked if there are plans for South Korea to indirectly supply munitions to Ukraine.
The Pentagon said the previous day that a “small number” of North Korean troops have already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been conducting a ground offensive since August.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has not denied the deployment of North Korean troops to his country but has also refused to confirm it.
Moscow’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday said that any claims that Pyongyang’s forces were present on the front lines were “mere assertions.”
Miroslav Jenca, the UN’s assistant secretary-general for Europe, meanwhile said the United Nations has been following reports of the North Korean deployment to Russia with “serious concern,” but could not independently confirm them.
