US expects North Korean troops to enter fight against Ukraine in coming days
PHOTO CAPTION: Soldiers participate in a demonstration during the training of the Korean People's Army's air and amphibious combat units, in this picture released on March 16, 2024, by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
By Michael Martina and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States expects North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday as he pressed China to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang.
Blinken spoke after North Korea conducted its longest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile test earlier on Thursday and South Korea warned that Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia in exchange for helping with the war in Ukraine.
The top U.S. diplomat said there were 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, including as many as 8,000 in the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces continue to hold territory after fighting their way into the Russian border area in August.
At a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts, Blinken said Russia has been training the North Korean soldiers in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and basic infantry operations, indicating they "fully intend" to use the forces in frontline operations.
They would become legitimate military targets if they enter the battlefield, Blinken said.
"We've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days," he said.
During their meeting, the U.S. and South Korea discussed a range of options for responding, Blinken added, saying Moscow's use of North Korean soldiers in its "meat grinder" war against Ukraine was a "clear sign of weakness."
Austin said the U.S. would announce new security assistance for Ukraine in coming days.
CLOSER RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA COOPERATION
Blinken and his South Korea and Japanese counterparts condemned the ICBM launch as a flagrant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The flight-time of the missile was 87 minutes, according to South Korea, putting nearly all of the United States within range.
The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment when asked if Russia was helping North Korea to develop its missile and other military technology.
Blinken said Beijing, like Washington, should be very concerned about what Russia might be doing in order to enhance North Korea's military capacities because it was destabilizing to Asia.
Austin said the Pentagon was very early in its assessment phase of the launch "and we don't see any indication at this point that there was Russian involvement."
Blinken said the U.S. and South Korea agreed China should do more to curb North Korea's provocative actions and U.S. officials had had a "robust conversation" with Beijing this week.
"They know well the concerns that we have, and the expectations that, both in word and deed, they'll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities," Blinken said of Chinese officials.
Beijing, partners with both Moscow and Pyongyang, has so far repeated calls for deescalation by all sides and a political settlement to the Korean conflict.
The United States, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia and Britain requested a U.N. Security Council meeting over the ICBM launch and two diplomats said it would likely take place on Monday.
Washington says China, which entered a "no limits" partnership with Moscow ahead of Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has been supporting the Kremlin's war with dual use goods to prop up the Russian defense industrial base.
China rejects the U.S. accusations about what it calls normal trade with Russia.
Austin said Ukraine could hold on to Russian territory in Kursk, and that the number of North Korean troops pales in comparison to casualties Russian forces recently have been suffering - some 1,250 a day.
"I do believe that they can hold on to the territory, if they choose to do that. They do have options," Austin said of Ukrainian troops.
Many Western analysts argue China should be alarmed by any North Korean participation in Russia's war, saying it's a sign Pyongyang has reduced its reliance on Beijing and that its involvement would galvanize closer ties between Washington's European and Asian allies.
Nonetheless, Sydney Seiler, a former U.S. national intelligence officer for North Korea, said China was not disturbed enough to actively oppose the deployments.
"I don't think China openly supports this. But at the same time, they're not going to do what's necessary to stop it," he said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina, Doina Chiacu, Daphne Psaledakis, Michelle Nichols and David Brunnstrom; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)
