US Defense Secretary Confirms North Korean Troops in Russia, ‘Very Serious’ if ‘Co-Belligerents’

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on Tuesday that North Korean troops are in Russia before adding that Washington is determining the purpose and potential gains of the deployments.

“Our analysts… continue to look at this. Now we are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to… Russia,” Austin told journalists in Rome, according to a Washington Post report.

“What exactly they’re doing is left to be seen. But, yes, there is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia,” he said, referring to North Korea by the initialization of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Austin said the deployments could indicate weakness in Russia’s military capabilities and warned of impacts to global security as a result of the deployments.

“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.

“It will have impacts, not only in Europe. It will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well,” he added.

Ukrainian Defense Intelligence (HUR) Chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed Pyongyang would receive low-yield tactical nuclear weapons and submarine missile-launch systems from Moscow in return during an interview with The Economist.

Budanov also claimed Tuesday that North Korean soldiers would arrive in Russia’s Kursk region by Oct. 23 to reinforce Russian troops.

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Russia has accelerated its advance across eastern Ukraine in recent months, looking to secure as much territory as possible before US President-elect Donald Trump comes to power in January.

Ukraine and South Korea both claimed in mid-October that Pyongyang had deployed troops to aid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, likely as a result of a mutual defense pact signed in June.

In early October, HUR claimed that Pyongyang had deployed troops to reinforce Moscow’s troops in Ukraine. In addition, media reports, citing HUR, claimed that six North Korean officers had been killed in a missile strike, with 18 more Pyongyang troops having allegedly deserted their positions near Ukraine.

Following the reports, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued satellite images alleging North Korean troops in Russia’s Far East prior to their deployments in Ukraine. Videos circulating on social media around the time also depicted Korean-speaking soldiers in a Russian military base.

This is a developing story. Read more about North Korean troops’ deployment in Ukraine here.