NATO, U.S. warn North Korea against sending troops to help Russia
The head of NATO on Tuesday warned that the transfer of North Korean troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine would be a significant escalation.
The U.S. should consider “direct military action” in Ukraine if North Korean troops invade, Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday.
“If North Korean troops were to invade Ukraine’s sovereign territory, the United States needs to seriously consider taking direct military action against the North Korean troops,” Turner said in a statement posted to X.
The U.S. has provided Ukraine’s army with weapons since the war began but has avoided military action that would put it into direct conflict with Russia. A conflict between the U.S. and Russia would tie in all countries in NATO, including Canada and 28 European countries, according to the organization’s Article 5, which dictates that an attack on one is an attack on all.
His statement comes after the U.S. said for the first time this week that it has evidence North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that “there is evidence” of North Korean troops in Russia, calling their presence a “very, very serious issue.”
“If they’re co-belligerents, if their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue,” he told reporters on a trip to Rome.
More: North Korean shock troops in Ukraine? South Korea summons Russian ambassador over reports.
North Korean troops are ‘legitimate military targets,’ White House says
If they join the fight in Ukraine, North Korean troops “will become legitimate military targets,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
Kirby said the U.S. believes North Korea sent at least 3,000 troops by boat to Vladivostok, a city on the far eastern coast of Russia. The soldiers then moved to military bases in Russia’s eastern region.
“We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability,” he said. “After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Polish President Andrzej Duda condemned the reported deployment during a summit on Thursday.
“We agreed that North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia is a direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and the U.N. Charter and is a provocation that goes beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe to threaten global security,” Yoon said.
Seoul consulted with the U.S. about the suspected deployment on Monday. Kim Hong-kyun, the South Korean vice foreign minister, summoned the Russian ambassador the same day to condemn the “illegal military cooperation,” which he called a violation of international law and a threat to South Korea’s security interests, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry.
“We will respond jointly with the international community by mobilizing all available means against acts that threaten our core security interests,” he said.
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South Korean lawmakers said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops were believed to be in Russia, a number double the estimate the South Korean Intelligence Service said it identified last week. The spy agency said it worked with Ukraine’s spies and used facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence to track North Korean military officers in Russia.
The Kremlin has denied the reports, branding them “fake news.” A North Korean United Nations representative called them “groundless rumors” at a meeting Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has tightened ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the war in Ukraine began. In a rare trip to North Korea in June, Putin signed a diplomatic with defense pact with Kim, and Kim expressed his support for the invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea has already provided large artillery shells to Russia’s war effort.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her on email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.
