Some 8,000 North Korean troops at Ukraine's border expected in combat soon, US says

WASHINGTON -- The United States expects some 8,000 North Korean troops that are now on Ukraine’s border to be sent into combat in the coming days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.

“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” Blinken said at a news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.

He said Russia has been training North Korean soldiers in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in front line operations.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

The Biden administration said Thursday that it has information that some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine's border and preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops.

In a dramatic moment during a U.N. Security Council meeting, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, asked for more time to add to earlier comments condemning the increasing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

“We just received some information, just coming in now, that right now there are some 8,000 DPRK soldiers in Kursk Oblast,” Wood said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea. The Kremlin’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk.

“And I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia? That’s my only question and final point,” he said.

The Russian representative at the meeting, called by Moscow to discuss international peace and security, did not respond to the comment. The session was then adjourned.

The new figure from Wood is an dramatic increase from a day earlier, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would only say “some” of the troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region.

That would also mean most of the North Korean troops that the U.S. and its allies say have been sent to Russia are now on the Russia-Ukraine border.

It's become a key topic as U.S. and South Korean leaders meet in Washington, fueling concerns that the presence of those soldiers will further destabilize the Asia-Pacific and broaden Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

“We remain concerned that they’re going to use these troops in combat,” Austin said Wednesday.

The U.S. has estimated there are about 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia. Seoul and its allies assess that the number has increased to 11,000, while Ukraine has put the figure higher, at up to 12,000.

North Korea’s move to tighten its relationship with Russia has raised concerns around the world about how that may expand the war and what Russian military aid will be delivered in exchange.

The main questions revolve around what new military technologies North Korea might get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether it might lead other nations to send their own forces to fight in the war.

Also Thursday, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year, demonstrating a potential advancement in its ability to launch long-range nuclear attacks on the mainland U.S. Some experts speculated that Russia may have provided technological assistance to North Korea over the launch.

As the meeting in Washington was underway, the U.S., South Korea and Japan released a joint statement condemning the missile launch as a “flagrant violation” of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and criticizing the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, particularly the deployment of the North Korean troops.

“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were holding talks Thursday with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

Austin had said a day earlier said North Korean troops wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian equipment were advancing toward Ukraine, in what he called a dangerous and destabilizing development.

Speaking alongside Kim, Austin said officials are discussing what to do about the North Korean deployment, which he acknowledged could “encourage others to take action.” He provided no details.

Kim said he does not necessarily believe the deployment will trigger war on the Korean Peninsula but that it could increase security threats.

There is a “high possibility” that North Korea would ask for advanced technologies from Russia in exchange for its troops, such as receiving tactical nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, he said through an interpreter.

Russia has had to shift some resources to the Kursk border region to respond to Ukraine’s offensive.

“They're doing this because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has lost a lot of troops,” Austin said, adding that Moscow has a choice between mobilizing more of its own forces or turning to others for help.

North Korea also has provided munitions to Russia, and earlier this month, the White House released images it said were of North Korea shipping 1,000 containers of military equipment there by rail.

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Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.