The Biden administration has said that around 8,000 North Korean troops are now in Russia, near the Ukrainian border, and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight Ukrainian troops in the coming days.

The new figure is a dramatic increase from the previous day, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said only that “some” troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces They have struggled to repel a Ukrainian incursion.

It would also mean that most of the North Korean troops that the United States and its allies say have been sent to Russia are now on the Russia-Ukraine border.

“The involvement of the DPRK (North Korea) in combat against Ukraine would be an alarming expansion of the conflict. The deployment of DPRK troops to Russia already marks a dangerous expansion of ties between Russia and the DPRK,” said Robert A. Wood, deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, said at a Security Council session.

“Russia’s actions towards the DPRK are not only dangerous, but are antithetical to its responsibility as a permanent member of this UN Security Council. Russia’s military cooperation with the DPRK violates multiple Security Council resolutions of the UN, which prohibit both the acquisition of weapons and those of the DPRK providing military training.”

The United States has estimated that a total of 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia. Seoul and its allies said the number has risen to 11,000, while Ukraine has raised the figure to 12,000.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while North Korean troops have been deployed to Kursk, they have not yet engaged in any hostilities.

“They are already in the Kursk region. They will use these troops. Of course, these people will die. Of course, they will try to do everything they can to make sure that more North Korean soldiers die, which means that they will push further ahead of Russia and that is why We will see these victims with you,” he said in an interview with the South Korean television channel KBS.

Deepening relationship

North Korea’s move to deepen its relationship with Russia has raised concerns around the world about how that could expand the war and what Russian military aid will be delivered in return.

It was a key issue when the leaders of the United States and South Korea met this week in Washington, fueling concerns that the presence of North Korean troops could further destabilize the Asia-Pacific region and expand Moscow’s war against Ukraine. .

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul condemned the deployment “in the strongest possible terms” and called for an immediate withdrawal of troops.

North Korea’s belligerent actions not only put the European continent but also the Korean peninsula under threat, and Seoul is committed to “taking necessary measures accordingly,” he said.

There are also questions about what new military technologies North Korea could get from Russia in exchange for the deployment and whether that could lead other nations to send their own forces to fight the war.

Meanwhile, the Director of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council that both Russia and Ukraine have continued to receive weapons, ammunition and other forms of military assistance from other countries, fueling the fighting.

“Recent reports also refer to the presence of third-party military personnel in the Russian Federation to assist in military operations against Ukrainian forces. We urge all concerned to refrain from any measures that could lead to further overflow and intensification of war,” Adedeji Ebo said.