The Secretary General of NATO confirmed the presence of North Korean troops in the Kursk region

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the participation of the North Korean military in Russiaʼs war against Ukraine. They were deployed in the Kursk region of Russia.

Rutte said this at a special briefing in Brussels.

"Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and units of the North Korean army are deployed in the Kursk region," the NATO Secretary General said.

Rutte calls this an escalation of the war in Ukraine and another violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Therefore, he calls on Russia and the DPRK to immediately stop these actions and emphasizes that their increased cooperation is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

"Pyongyang has already supplied Russia with millions of ammunition and ballistic missiles, which are fueling a major conflict in the heart of Europe and undermining global peace and security. In return, Putin provides North Korea with military technology and other support to bypass international sanctions," Rutte said.

At the same time, the NATO Secretary General called the deployment of North Korean troops in the Kursk region a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putinʼs "desperation," as more than 600 000 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded in the war in Ukraine. Against this background, he called on NATO allies to increase their support for Ukraine.

The US confirmed the sending of North Korean soldiers to Russia on October 23. Then the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin said that the US already has evidence of this, but it is not yet known what exactly the military will do with the DPRK.

Participation of the North Korean military in the war against Ukraine

Ukrainian intelligence reported on October 24 that the first soldiers from the KDPR had already arrived at the front. Their presence was recorded on October 23 in the Kursk region of Russia. According to intelligence, approximately 12 000 troops were sent from North Korea to Russia, including 500 officers, including three generals. President Zelensky said that they should be used in the first battles on October 27-28.

The National Intelligence Service of South Korea reported that the first part of the military was transported by ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet to Vladivostok on October 8-13, they were given Russian uniforms, weapons and fake Russian passports to hide their participation in the war.

Soon after that, videos about the training of North Koreans at Russian training grounds began to appear on the Internet, and Babel sources said that they are being trained in such cities as Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Blagoveshchensk, and Vladivostok. A "special Buryat battalion" staffed by citizens of the DPRK is being formed on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian Federation.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing a former Russian spy, wrote that the strategic partnership agreement between Russia and North Korea, which Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed in June, contains a secret clause. According to the agreement, the DPRK will be able to send approximately a thousand of its soldiers to Ukraine at first, and later more.

The head of the Ukrainian intelligence (known as GUR) Kyrylo Budanov says that in exchange for soldiers, North Korea receives money and nuclear technology from Russia.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.