BRUSSELS – NATO members said Nov. 8 that the deployment of North Korean troops is a “dangerous expansion” of the country’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In a joint statement, the 32 member countries of the military alliance warned that “deepening military cooperation” between Russia and North Korea “has a profound impact on Euro-Atlantic security, with implications also for the Indo-Pacific.”

Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Ukraine also supported NATO’s statement.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in late October that North Korean troops had been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units had been deployed to the Kursk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 7, after a meeting with Rutte, that “a more decisive response is needed from Western countries to North Korea’s new role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.”

North Atlantic Council Statement on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

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— NATO (@NATO) November 8, 2024

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