US Denies Troop Deployment, Says "8,000 North Korean Soldiers Stationed in Russia's Kursk"

Russia Questioned at UN Security Council Meeting

The U.S. government revealed that 8,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia are currently stationed in the Kursk region of Russia. This directly contradicts Russia's claim made the previous day that the deployment of North Korean troops was a lie.

Robert Wood, the U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, stated on the 31st (local time) at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting held in New York that the U.S. had obtained such information.

Deputy Ambassador Wood said, "I will ask my Russian colleagues (attending the Security Council meeting) very politely," and questioned, "Do you still maintain the position that there are no North Korean soldiers in Russia?"

Anna Yevstigneyeva, the Deputy Ambassador of Russia to the United Nations representing Russia at the meeting, did not exercise her right to respond separately. Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian Ambassador to the UN, who was absent from the meeting that day, denied at the previous day's Security Council meeting that North Korea had deployed troops to Russia, calling it a "lie."

At the previous day's Security Council meeting, Serhii Olehovych Kyslytsya, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN, said that about 4,500 North Korean troops had arrived at the Russia-Ukraine border this week and were expected to participate directly in combat soon. The number of North Korean troops disclosed by Deputy Ambassador Wood on this day is twice the level identified by Ukraine the previous day.

The Ukrainian military had focused on territorial defense since the outbreak of the war but began attacking into the Kursk region, inside Russian territory, from August, where fierce battles are currently underway.

The international community is increasingly concerned about the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which is reaching the level of a blood alliance, due to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.

Hwang Jung-guk, South Korea's Ambassador to the UN, expressed concern at the previous day's Security Council meeting that North Korean troops deployed to Russia would become cannon fodder as legitimate military targets. He criticized, "The wages that North Korean troops should receive from Russia will end up in Kim Jong-un's pocket," and added, "The North Korean regime, which uses its own citizens as expendable goods, must never be forgiven." He also reiterated that the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and violates multiple Security Council resolutions.