North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pyongyang will stand by Russia until "victory" in Ukraine as Washington predicted North Korean troops in Russia's Kursk region will enter the fight against Kyiv in the coming days.
At a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov after arriving in Moscow on November 1, Choe hailed the "very close ties" between the armed and special services of the two countries, and "we will always stand firmly by our Russian comrades until victory day."
After weeks of intelligence reports warning that thousands of North Korean troops were heading to Russia, confirmation that Pyongyang's soldiers are not only on Russian soil but have already been deployed in a western region bordering Ukraine have raised fears of a potential escalation in the war, triggered by Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Moscow and Pyongyang have trumpeted their increased defense cooperation since the launch of the invasion, but the Kremlin has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on its soil.
NATO, however, confirmed on October 28 that North Korean troops had been deployed in the country's western Kursk region, where Russian forces are trying to beat back a Ukrainian incursion.
The military alliance's chief, Mark Rutte, said the deployment marked "a significant escalation" of North Korea's involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine, a threat to global security, a violation of international law, and a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on October 31 that while Washington believes North Korean troops have yet deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, "we would expect that to happen in the coming days."
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Blinken reiterated that the troops -- some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are believed to now be in the Kursk region -- would become "legitimate military targets" if they are deployed.
Blinken's comments came the same day that the United States, South Korea, and Japan released a joint statement condemning an ICBM test-launch by Pyongyang as a “flagrant violation” of numerous UN Security Council resolutions.
The timing of the case coincides with a period of strained U.S.-Russia relations, exacerbated by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions aimed at weakening Moscow's position.
Prior to his meeting with Choe, Lavrov told the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet that "Russophobia" from the U.S. administration had brought Russia and the United States to "the brink of direct military conflict."
Choe said in Moscow that the situation on the Korean Peninsula could become "explosive" at any moment and therefore North Korea needed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal and readiness to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike if necessary.