Ukraine's military intelligence service said on October 24 that it has detected the presence of North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region.
According to intelligence data, the first military units from North Korea arrived in the combat zone on October 23.
The intelligence service said their presence "was recorded in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation," a border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August.
Such a deployment raises the possibility that North Korean soldiers could join Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as the war there, triggered by Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, grinds on.
The Kremlin has previously dismissed reports about the North's troop deployment as "fake news." But Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 24 did not deny that North Korean troops were currently in Russia.
Putin added it was Moscow's business how to implement a strategic partnership treaty with Pyongyang agreed by Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in June.
Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, earlier on October 24 approved the treaty, which allows for "military and other assistance" from one country to the other.
The treaty brings cooperation between the two countries to a higher level, including a line stating that if one side is attacked and finds itself in a state of war, the other must "immediately provide military and other assistance with all means at its disposal."
It's not clear how that clause is to be interpreted, but both South Korea and the United States have recently said they have evidence that North Korean troops are in Russia and appear to be holding training exercises.
SEE ALSO: North Korean Troops In Ukraine Would Show Kremlin 'Weakness,' Says U.S. CongressmanU.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that the evidence of North Korea sending troops to Russia was the "next step" after Pyongyang provided Moscow with arms.
Analysts are still assessing the situation, Austin said, but Pyongyang, which has denied the accusations, could face consequences for aiding Russia directly.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on October 24 reiterated Austin's comments, telling reporters at a briefing that the U.S. military has seen evidence of North Korean troops going to Russia.
“What exactly they’re doing has yet to be seen," she said, adding that the actions "really highlight Russia’s desperation [and] show that Putin has failed in his strategic objectives on the battlefield.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on October 23 that the White House believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East in early to mid-October.
"If they're co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia's behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific," he said.
NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said the allies are discussing the matter, noting that if true, "it would mark a significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war and yet another sign of Russia's significant losses on the front lines."
Last week, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it had tracked the movements of North Korea's military from October 8 to October 13 and had captured images of it transporting special forces to Russian territory via a Russian transport ship, the first time a Russian Navy vessel had been detected entering North Korean waters since 1990, "confirming the start of the North Korean military's participation in the war."
Speculation over North Korea's role in the conflict has grown amid signs of tightening relations between Moscow and countries such as North Korea and Iran almost 32 months after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based U.S. military think tank, also recently reported that several thousand North Korean troops had arrived in Russia and were being prepared for deployment in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has previously dismissed claims by South Korea that Pyongyang has supplied artillery shells and short-range missiles to Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 14 warned that North Korean assistance to Russia "is no longer just about transferring weapons."