The Biden administration said it has information that some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops.
In a dramatic moment during Thursday’s UN Security Council meeting, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, asked for more time to add to earlier comments condemning the increasing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
“We just received some information, just coming in now, that right now there are some 8,000 DPRK soldiers in Kursk Oblast,” Mr Wood said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea.
General view of the UN Security Council room (Leon Neal/PA)
Kursk is a region that Ukrainian forces took by surprise in August.
“And I have a very respectful question for my Russian colleague: does Russia still maintain that there are no DPRK troops in Russia?
“That’s my only question and final point,” he said.
The Russian representative at the council meeting, which Russia called to discuss international peace and security, did not respond to the comment and the session was adjourned.