NATO confirms N. Korea’s troop deployment to Russia’s Kursk region

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed Monday that North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region, a front-line area in its conflict with Ukraine.

“Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters following a briefing from a high-level South Korean delegation.

The South Korean delegation, comprised of intelligence and government officials, attended a North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, for the briefing that was joined by ambassadors from NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. The NAC is NATO’s main decision-making body.

The briefing on the deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow came amid reports that Russia is deploying North Korean troops to front-line positions in its prolonged war with Ukraine.

Rutte stated that the deployment marked “a significant escalation of the DPRK’s ongoing involvement in Russia’s illegal war,” referring to North Korea by its official acronym, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,” Rutte said.

Ukraine earlier claimed that North Korean troops have started moving into the Kursk border region in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in August.

Following the briefing, First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won, who led the delegation, stated that North Korea’s deployment of units to Kursk is happening more rapidly than previously anticipated.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that North Korea’s troop deployment in Russia’s war with Ukraine could take place “sooner than expected,” calling the latest development “serious.”

“We (initially) reported to the government that it would take until early December, but it seems that both Russia and North Korea have accelerated their pace since the intelligence became public,” Hong said.

Hong also said that a close military aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has already been deployed to Russia.

Earlier, Japan’s Kyodo News reported that Kim Yong-bok, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, had been in Russia as of last Thursday, reportedly overseeing the North Korean troops there, citing a Ukrainian military source.

When asked if the delegation had shared information about Kim Yong-bok with NATO officials, Hong confirmed that they had.

The delegation’s visit follows a request by Rutte for South Korea’s briefing during a recent phone call with Yoon.

The delegation is also expected to hold talks with Rutte, and other senior NATO and European Union officials.

Discussions may cover support measures for Ukraine, potentially including the dispatch of South Korean intelligence personnel to Kyiv to monitor North Korean troop activity.

They may also touch on South Korea’s options for aiding Ukraine, possibly reconsidering its policy on nonlethal aid in favor of providing military assistance.