Ukraine says forces clashed with North Korean troops for first time
6 November 2024, 17:35
North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian forces for the first time, Kyiv's military officials have said.
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Kyiv's military struck North Korean soldiers in a "small-scale" attack, Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean broadcaster KBS.
An estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to the Kursk border region to help Russia in its "special military operation", where Ukraine's military has a foothold over Russian soldiers.
The comments were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat since Pyongyang's forces were sent to Russia last month.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky previously condemned the West's lack of response to the North Korean troops. He said the "first battles with North Korea open a new chapter of instability in the world".
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Umerov added in the interview that North Korean troops are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, making it hard to say whether there were any North Korean casualties.
The defence minister said he expects that five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, had been deployed to the Kursk area.
South Korea's intelligence, however, said it "does not believe [troops on both sides] engaged in direct combat", but that there was an "incident" involving a small number of North Korean soldiers "near the frontline".
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine's Security Council, also confirmed "the first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region". He provided no further details.
Western governments had expected that the North Korean soldiers would be sent to Russia's Kursk border region, where a three-month-old incursion by the Ukrainian army is the first occupation of Russian territory since the Second World War and has embarrassed the Kremlin.
US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.
The Pentagon said on Monday that at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia near Ukraine's border.
More troops from North Korea's 1.3 million-strong army may be slated for deployment in Russia, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations.
"Despite integration challenges - including communication barriers and differing military doctrines - the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia represents a significant shift in European and Asian security relations," the analysis said.
"For the first time in generations, troops from East Asia are actively engaging in a European conflict."
The North Korean troops, whose fighting quality and battle experience is unknown, are adding to Ukraine's worsening situation on the battlefield as the war continues.
