The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that 10,000 North Korean troops are training in Russia and that a “couple thousand” are already there in the region of Russia near the border with Ukraine.
Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, the press secretary for the Pentagon, says that the US is keeping a close eye on things and working with Ukraine and other US allies.
“We are still worried that Russia plans to use these soldiers in battle or to help fight Ukrainian forces in Kursk.”
Major General Ryder says there are no signs yet that North Korean troops have crossed into Ukraine.
President Joe Biden told reporters that Ukraine should be able to strike if that line is crossed. He called the situation “very dangerous.”
President Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine says he thinks there will be 12,000 more North Korean troops in Russia “soon.”
“That’s the first one, of course. It’s just escalation,” Zelensky says. “Sometimes I’m surprised at how our big strategic partners told us not to cross red lines and escalate, but we think Russia does it itself.”
There are North Korean troops in Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is neither denying nor confirming this.
Putin and Kim Jong Un, the president of North Korea, recently signed a treaty saying they would help each other’s military.
The pact says that if either country is attacked, the other must immediately send military help using “all means.”
The South Korean government is in Washington, D.C. this week for a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
