U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that he expects North Korean troops that have deployed to Russia to join the war against Ukraine, a step he warned could expand the conflict.
In the last month, North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to eastern Russia, where they began training across three military sites. Around 2,000 of these troops have since moved west, with some receiving Russian uniforms and equipment. A smaller group has already entered the region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces seized land earlier this fall.
“There’s a good likelihood that these groups will be introduced into combat,” Austin said Wednesday, speaking alongside South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, who was visiting Washington.
Since publicly confirming last week that North Korea had sent forces into Russia, the Pentagon has warned Pyongyang against joining the nearly three-year war. After decades of chilly relations — including years of Russia trying to limit North Korea’s nuclear program — the two countries have warmed to each other following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea has helped supply Russia’s military with munitions and other military equipment during the war, and their two leaders have held multiple in-person summits. American officials have grown concerned about what Pyongyang is receiving in return.
That barter likely includes Russia transferring advanced technology on tactical nuclear weapons, reconnaissance satellites, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines, said Kim, the South Korean defense minister.
“There’s also a high chance that they will try to replace their equipment” that may have grown obsolete, Kim said.
The U.S. does not have direct relations with North Korea and already has a raft of sanctions imposed on the country. Austin said the administration is working with allies on how to respond to the deployment, though he wouldn’t specify how.
“It does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues,” Austin said of these troops fighting alongside Russia. If they do, he said, they would be fair targets for Ukrainian soldiers, including with American-provided weapons.
Pentagon and White House officials have argued that the deployment is a sign of “desperation” from Russia, which is suffering immense and accelerating casualties in Ukraine’s east — more than 1,000 per day with more than 600,000 during the whole war.
Austin went further Wednesday, saying the Kremlin is now asking Pyongyang for manpower to avoid another draft. Russia has been able to replace much of its losses through recruitment drives, offering higher pay and pensions, but a mobilization could be politically unpopular.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want to mobilize, because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of his losses, of their losses,” Austin said.
After Russian advances toward the key eastern city of Pokrovsk this fall, Ukraine’s defenses have held. Still, Ukraine is also taking heavy losses and has a much smaller population, making them harder to replace.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
