Axis of Aggression: North Korean Troops Join Russia’s Invasion in Alarming Expansion of Ukraine Conflict

Nato has confirmed North Korea’s troop deployment to the combat zone in western Russia, as it warned that Pyongyang’s involvement in the war in Ukraine constituted a threat to both European and Indo-Pacific security.

“I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said on Monday after a meeting with a delegation from South Korea and representatives from the Indo-Pacific.

He described the deployment as a “significant escalation in the DPRK’s ongoing involvement in Russia’s illegal war” and “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war”. Rutte’s comments came after Russian troops pressed further into eastern Ukraine over the weekend, capturing towns and inching closer to the logistical hub of Pokrovsk.

Earlier this month, South Korea released footage showing North Korean soldiers training on Russian soil and being kitted out with Russian military uniforms and weapons.

A contingent of those soldiers has since been transported westward to help Russia’s 50,000-strong force in its operation to retake territory in Kursk region that has been occupied by Ukrainian troops since their surprise incursion in August.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that North Korean soldiers could be deployed with the Russian army to “combat zones” as soon as October 27 or 28.

Rutte said that Pyongyang had already supplied Moscow with ammunition and ballistic missiles in its fight against Ukraine, and that Russia was in turn aiding North Korea to circumvent international sanctions, including by providing crucial technology.