Putin acknowledges N. Korean troop deployment to Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the first time, addressed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia on Thursday (local time), stating it is up to Moscow how to run its mutual defense clause with Pyongyang. Earlier that day, the Russian parliament ratified a North Korea-Russia treaty that includes provisions for mutual military assistance, which many interpret as an implicit acknowledgment of the North Korean troop deployment. On the same day, Ukrainian authorities reported sightings of North Korean troops in Russia’s front-line region of Kursk Oblast, hinting that the first military confrontation involving these troops may be near.

According to Reuters and other sources, during a press conference following the BRICS summit in Kazan, Tatarstan, Putin responded to an American journalist’s question regarding satellite images that purportedly support the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia. "Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something," Putin commented.

Putin also referenced Article 4 of the North Korea-Russia treaty, which outlines provisions for military assistance, stating, “ We have never doubted in the least that the North Korean leadership takes our agreements seriously. But what we do within the framework of this article is our business.” This contrasts sharply with statements made the previous day by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who denied the reports of North Korean troop deployment, calling them “false and exaggerated.”

The United States has also reiterated North Korea’s involvement, referring to them as “co-belligerents” in the Ukraine war. “We are seeing evidence that there are North Korean troops that have gone to … Russia,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke at a press conference in Rome on Thursday. "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."

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR) announced that the first deployed North Korean troops have been stationed in Russia’s southwestern Kursk Oblast, bordering Ukraine. Local reports indicate that some of the approximately 12,000 troops sent from North Korea, including three generals and 500 officers, were first seen in Kursk on Tuesday. “Kursk is the Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August and where President Putin has been eager for retaliation,” The Guardian noted.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com