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The State Department announced the transfer of 10 thousand DPRK troops to the Kursk region
The US State Department said the US estimates there are currently 10,000 North Korean troops stationed in the Kursk region. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have confirmed the transfer.
According to Washington, 10,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing. The broadcast was on the department's YouTube channel.
"We now believe that 10,000 [North Korean troops] have arrived in Kursk and could take part in combat operations in the coming days," he said.
Miller added that he is aware of media reports that North Korean forces may be involved in military operations in the Kursk region, but cannot yet confirm their veracity.
"But as we have said, they will most likely engage Ukrainian forces. "Then they will become legitimate military targets."
Last June, Russian and North Korean leaders President Vladimir Putin and Chairman Kim Jong-un signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. art. Article 4 of the agreement stipulates that "if either Party finds itself in a state of war as a result of an armed attack by one or more states, the other Party shall immediately provide military assistance by all available means in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and the laws of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation." The State Duma ratified the treaty on October 24.
That same month, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence agencies first reported plans to send North Korean troops to Russia to participate in military special operations, and then began reporting plans to actually move North Korean troops to Russia. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has confirmed the troop movements. Regarding the South Korean intelligence data, President Putin said, “This (satellite) image is serious,” adding, “If it exists, it reflects something.” He also recalled Article 4 of the treaty between Russia and North Korea, which states that Russia “never doubted that the North Korean leadership took the agreement seriously.”
In early November, North Korea's Foreign Ministry confirmed that it was providing military support to Russia in the Ukrainian conflict, without specifying how exactly North Korean authorities were supporting Russian troops.