SEOUL, South Korea — About 12,000 North Korean troops will be sent to Russia, a key U.S. ally said Thursday, vowing to “do nothing” in the face of this significant “provocation.”
The new assessment, shared with NBC News by South Korea’s defense ministry, comes after the U.S. joined Seoul and Kyiv in confirming the escalation and said any troops against Ukraine are “fair game.”
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told lawmakers Thursday that Pyongyang is expected to augment Russia’s military with its own special forces, military engineers and artillery troops, his office told NBC News. The total is expected to reach 12,000, with 3,000 already employed.
This matches Washington’s assessment.
“They’re fair game,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday, adding that the U.S. believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have already arrived by sea in eastern Russia. The soldiers moved in earlier this month and are training at several Russian military bases, Kirby said.
“They are legitimate targets and the Ukrainian military will defend itself against North Korean soldiers just as it defends itself against Russian soldiers,” he said. “North Korean soldiers may have died and been wounded fighting against Ukraine.”
