North Korean troops deployed to Russia's Kursk, warns Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that as many as 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's western Kursk region and are expected to enter combat "in the coming days."

He cautioned that these forces would become "legitimate" military targets, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.

Blinken made the remarks during a press conference after he, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun held their "two-plus-two" meeting at the State Department in Washington.

The meeting underscored the two countries' close security coordination just a day after North Korea fired what appeared to be a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), ratcheting up tensions just days ahead of the U.S. presidential election set for Tuesday.

"We now assess that there are some 10,000 North Korean soldiers in total in Russia, and the most recent information indicates that as many as 8,000 of those North Korean forces have been deployed to the Kursk Region," Blinken said.

"We've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days," he added.

The secretary pointed out that Russia has been training North Korean troops in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, indicating that Moscow "fully" intends to use the soldiers in front line operations.

"Should these troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would become legitimate military targets," he said.

News.Az