NATO chief confirms North Korean troops deployed in Russia's Kursk Oblast

Editor's note: The story is being updated.

North Korea has sent troops to Russia, and they have already been deployed in Kursk Oblast, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Oct. 28.

Rutte joined other Western officials in confirming reports by Kyiv and Seoul that Pyongyang is sending military personnel to Russia as a sign of deepening cooperation between the two countries.

"Today, 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," the NATO secretary general said in Brussels after meeting South Korean defense and intelligence officials.

This comes as the secretary general's first official confirmation of North Korean troops arriving in Russia.

Rutte said that the deployment represents "a significant escalation in (North Korea's) ongoing involvement in Russia's illegal war" and a "dangerous expansion of Russia's war."

The South Korean delegation briefed the North Atlantic Council and representatives from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand on the North Korean involvement in Russia's war.

Previously, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said that Russia is preparing to deploy 12,000 North Korean soldiers, including 500 officers and three generals. The spy agency said already on Oct. 24 that the first units had been deployed in Kursk Oblast, a claim at the time unconfirmed by Western officials.

Russia and North Korea have initially dismissed the reports but recently turned to more evasive rhetoric as evidence of the troops' dispatch mounted.

"The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security. It undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and fuels the Russian war against Ukraine," Rutte said.

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