"Very dangerous." Joe Biden on sending North Korean military to Russia

US President Joe Biden called the sending of North Korean troops to Russia a “dangerous development” amid Western speculation that they will participate in the war in Ukraine on Russia’s side.

“Very dangerous,” Biden told reporters when asked about the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and fight in Ukraine over the “next few weeks.” According to her, part of the North Korean military “has already moved closer to Ukraine.” She added that it is “quite likely” that the North Korean military is moving in the direction of Kursk, but the Pentagon does not yet have more detailed information.

• In mid-October, South Korean intelligence began reporting that North Korean military personnel were being sent to Russia. According to intelligence estimates, it was about 12 thousand soldiers. By the end of October, some of them (according to some sources, about 1,500 fighters) had already been transferred to the Russian Far East for training, intelligence officials said. On October 26, The New York Times, citing Ukrainian and two American officials, reported that several thousand military personnel from North Korea had arrived in the Kursk region, where they, along with the Russian military, could take part in battles against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
• On October 28, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia were sent to the Kursk region to help the Russian military.
• Vladimir Putin did not directly confirm the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war, but on October 24, at a press conference after the BRICS summit, he answered a question about satellite images that show the presence of the DPRK military. “Pictures are a serious thing. If there are pictures, it means they reflect something,” Putin said.