N. Korea says troop dispatch to Russia, if true, falls in line with int’l law

North Korea’s foreign ministry said Friday any reported dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia, if true, would align with international law, obliquely acknowledging its deployment plan.

Kim Jong-gyu, vice foreign minister in charge of Russian affairs, made the remark after one of North Korea’s United Nations representatives dismissed Seoul’s claims of its troop dispatch to Russia as a “groundless rumor.”

“If there is such a thing that the world media is talking about, I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law,” Kim said in an English statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

“There will evidently exist forces which want to describe it as illegal one, I think,” he added.

The official stopped short of confirming the troop dispatch, saying it does not interfere in matters under the defense ministry’s jurisdiction.

Pyongyang’s first official comment on the troop dispatch came after Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to deny the reports, saying it’s “our own business.”

South Korea and the United States have previously claimed that North Korea sent approximately 3,000 troops to eastern Russia for potential involvement in the war against Ukraine.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said intelligence indicates Russia is expected to deploy the first batch of North Korean soldiers in combat zones as early as Sunday or Monday.