NATO Confirms That North Korea Has Sent Troops to Join Russia’s War in Ukraine

 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers a statement, after a meeting with a high level South Korean delegation including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats briefed NATO diplomats, at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers a statement, after a meeting with a high level South Korean delegation including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats briefed NATO diplomats, at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP)
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NATO Confirms That North Korea Has Sent Troops to Join Russia’s War in Ukraine

 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers a statement, after a meeting with a high level South Korean delegation including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats briefed NATO diplomats, at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP)
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers a statement, after a meeting with a high level South Korean delegation including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats briefed NATO diplomats, at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP)

NATO on Monday confirmed that North Korean troops have been sent to help Russia in its almost three-year war against Ukraine and said some have already been deployed in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Russia has been struggling to push back a Ukrainian incursion.

“Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters.

Rutte said that the move represents “a significant escalation” in North Korea’s involvement in the conflict and marks “a dangerous expansion of Russia’s war.”

Adding thousands of North Korean soldiers to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II will pile more pressure on Ukraine’s weary and overstretched army. It will also stoke geopolitical tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the wider Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, Western officials say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to reshape global power dynamics. He sought to build a counterbalance to Western influence with a summit of BRICS countries, including the leaders of China and India, in Russia last week.

He has sought direct help for the war from Iran, which has supplied drones, and North Korea, which has shipped large amounts of ammunition, according to Western governments.

Ukraine, whose defenses are under severe Russian pressure in its eastern Donetsk region, could get more bleak news from next week’s US presidential election. A Donald Trump victory could see key US military help dwindle.

In Moscow, the Defense Ministry announced Monday that Russian troops have captured the Donetsk village of Tsukuryne — the latest settlement to succumb to the slow-moving Russian onslaught.

Rutte spoke in Brussels after a high-level South Korean delegation, including top intelligence and military officials as well as senior diplomats, briefed the alliance’s 32 national ambassadors at NATO headquarters.

Rutte said NATO is “actively consulting within the alliance, with Ukraine, and with our Indo-Pacific partners,” on developments. He said he was due to talk soon with South Korea’s president and Ukraine’s defense minister.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely,” he said. He did not take questions after the statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, citing intelligence reports, claimed last Friday that North Korean troops would be on the battlefield within days.

He previously said his government has information that some 10,000 troops from North Korea were being readied to join Russian forces fighting against his country.

Days before Zelenskyy spoke, American and South Korean officials said there was evidence North Korea had dispatched troops to Russia.

The US said around 3,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia for training.



US Warns Iran at UN of 'Severe Consequences' in Case of New Attacks

United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at the United Nations Security Council meeting, following a ballistic missile attack on Israel, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 2, 2024. (File photo: Reuters)
United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at the United Nations Security Council meeting, following a ballistic missile attack on Israel, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 2, 2024. (File photo: Reuters)
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US Warns Iran at UN of 'Severe Consequences' in Case of New Attacks

United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at the United Nations Security Council meeting, following a ballistic missile attack on Israel, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 2, 2024. (File photo: Reuters)
United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at the United Nations Security Council meeting, following a ballistic missile attack on Israel, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 2, 2024. (File photo: Reuters)

The United States warned Iran at the United Nations Security Council on Monday of "severe consequences" if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or US personnel in the Middle East.
"We will not hesitate to act in self defense. Let there be no confusion. The United States does not want to see further escalation. We believe this should be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the 15-member council.
The Security Council met after Israel struck missile factories and other sites in Iran before dawn on Saturday. It was retaliation for Iran's Oct. 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles.
Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saied Iravani accused Washington of being "complicit" through military support for its ally.
"Iran has consistently championed diplomacy," he told the council. "However, as a sovereign state, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right to respond at a time of its choosing to this act of aggression."
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon called on the Security Council to impose "crippling sanctions" on Iran's military and economic infrastructure and "take the necessary measures to prevent a lunatic regime from attaining nuclear capabilities."
He described Israel's strikes on Iran as "measured and proportionate" and said it would continue to defend itself.
"Any further aggression will be met with consequences that are swift and decisive," Danon told the council, adding that "Israel does not seek war."
China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong called on the United States - without specifically naming it - "to put saving lives and preventing war" first and support action by the UN Security Council to push for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a de-escalation of fighting between Israel and Lebanon.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called out the United States for its support of Israel.
"Jerusalem is not ready to give up on its choice to resolve all of its conflict situations with neighbors exclusively by force. Their determination to act that way is ... because they have the support and cover from American allies," he said.
Iran should not respond to Israel's weekend attack, said Britain's UN. Ambassador Barbara Woodward, adding: "All sides must exercise restraint. No good can come of pouring more fuel on the flames of this escalating cycle of violence."