Debates on North Korea’s Military Cooperation with Russia
Sullivan expressed confidence that a coordinated set of policy decisions will be made in the diplomatic arena on material support for Ukraine and on other issues. In this context, it was emphasised that the United States intends to cooperate with its allies and partners in Europe, as well as with Japan and South Korea.
US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel raised allegations that 10,000 military personnel from North Korea participated in clashes with Russian forces in the Kursk region. However, Russia pointed out that the US did not confirm these statements. North Korea, on the other hand, described the accusations of sending military personnel to Russia as “dirty manoeuvres” by the US and its allies to cover up their own mistakes and prolong the conflict in Ukraine.
The South Korean news agency Renhap, citing a source in the South Korean military, reported that Seoul was in no hurry to support the US State Department’s position on allegations that the North Korean military participated in the fighting near Kursk. The source was quoted as saying that Seoul was “not yet at a level to come to a definitive conclusion on the North Korean military’s involvement in the fighting”.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, without citing evidence, claimed that the United States believes that Russia will enter the conflict against Ukraine in the coming days, and North Korean fighters are already on Russian territory. In this case, Joe Biden had authorised Ukraine to target North Korean troops if they were present in Ukraine.
Commenting on such statements from the US side,Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov drew attention to the fact that US representatives admitted that there was no definitive confirmation of their own information. Peskov drew attention to the contradictory information on the subject with the words “South Korea says one thing, then the Pentagon says that they have not confirmed such statements”.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte claimed at the end of October that a delegation from South Korea had presented the alliance with ‘evidence’ that North Korean forces had been sent to Russia, including to the Kursk region. However, no explanation was given as to what this ‘evidence’ consisted of.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the strategic partnership agreement with North Korea contains a clause on military assistance, and that what Moscow and Pyongyang do under this clause is a matter between the two states. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariya Zakharova had previously emphasised that the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea does not violate the norms of international law, and described the unease in South Korea over reports of North Korean troops in Russia as “fabricated and exaggerated”.
