The United States expects North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday as he pressed China to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang.
Blinken said Russia has been training the North Korean soldiers in artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and basic infantry operations, indicating they “fully intend” to use the forces in frontline operations.
The top U.S. diplomat said there were 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, including as many as 8,000 in the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces continue to hold territory after fighting their way into the Russian border area in August.
They would become legitimate military targets if they enter the battlefield, Blinken said at a press conference in Washington with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their South Korean counterparts.
“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 said.
During their meeting, the U.S. and South Korea discussed a range of options for responding, Blinken added, saying Moscow’s use of North Korean soldiers in its “meat grinder” war against Ukraine was a “clear sign of weakness.”
Austin said the U.S. would announce new security assistance for Ukraine in coming days.
The U.S. and South Korea agreed that China should do more to curb North Korea’s provocative actions, Blinken said, adding that U.S. officials had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.
“I think they know well the concerns that we have, and the expectations that, both in word and deed, they’ll use the influence that they have to work to curb these activities,” Blinken said of Chinese officials.
Beijing, close partners with both Moscow and Pyongyang, has so far repeated calls for deescalation by all sides and a political settlement to the conflict.
Washington says China, which entered into a “no limits” partnership with Moscow ahead of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has been supporting the Kremlin’s war with dual use goods to prop up the Russian defense industrial base.
China says the U.S. makes false accusations about the country’s normal trade with Russia.
Austin said Ukraine could hold on to Russian territory in Kursk, and that the number of North Korean troops pales in comparison to the number of casualties Russian forces recently have been suffering – some 1,250 a day.
“I do believe that they can hold on to the territory, if they choose to do that. They do have options,” Austin said of Ukrainian troops.