Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made this remark on Nov. 23 during a visit to the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. According to him, around 10,000 soldiers of the Korean People's Army (KPA) are believed to be in Russia's western Kursk region. These KPA troops are being integrated into Russian military formations, he added.
"Based upon what they've been trained on, the way they've been integrated into the Russian formations, I fully expect them to see them engaged in combat soon," Austin told reporters.
According to the Moscow Times, Ukraine has warned that Russia has amassed a 50,000-strong force to retake parts of Kursk previously captured by Kyiv. Moscow's headcount has also been bolstered by reinforcements sent from Pyongyang, as part of a mutual defense agreement between the two countries. (Related: Russia has invoked Article 4 of its mutual defense treaty with North Korea, Putin confirms.)
"Ukrainian troops seized swaths of Kursk in a surprise offensive in August, even as their forces remained heavily stretched in the Donetsk region, which has been the focal point of nearly three years of fighting," the Moscow Times continued.
Moscow gets troops, Pyongyang gets resources and arms
Meanwhile, South Korean officials and experts said on Nov. 21 that North Korea received much-needed resources from Russia after it sent reinforcement. Moscow provided Pyongyang with oil, anti-air missiles and economic assistance following the deployment of KPA troops to Kursk – a claim backed by intelligence from Washington.
Shin Wonsik, director of the South Korean Office of National Security, told Korean television station SBS TV on Nov. 22 that Seoul has discovered that Russia provided missiles and other equipment to help North Korea reinforce its air defense network. However, he didn't specify what kind of missiles Moscow sent.
Shin added that Russia has also given economic assistance and various military technologies to the North. Included in the latter are technologies Pyongyang needs to build a reliable space-based surveillance system. The director did not say whether Moscow had already transferred sensitive nuclear and missile technologies to North Korea.
While Shin refused to specify the missiles sent to the North, Lee Il-woo of the Korea Defense Network said Russia has likely sent S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), launchers and ground-based radar systems. He added that North Korea is capable of building shorter-range SAMs on its own.
But military expert Kim Dae Young of the Korean National Strategy Institute said it's possible that Pyongyang also received counter-drone equipment. According to him, Pyongyang's outdated air defense system would need years of improvement and potentially huge external help – from Moscow in this case – to match the air capabilities of Seoul and Washington.
"Many observers say North Korea has likely felt the urgent need to boost its air defense capabilities after it last month accused South Korea of flying drones to scatter propaganda leaflets over [the capital] Pyongyang," the Associated Press reported. "North Korea threatened to take military action if leaflets were again dropped. South Korea's military has refused to confirm whether or not it was behind the alleged drone flights."
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Watch this clip of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming that 11,000 North Korean troops were sent to the borders of Ukraine.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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