Seoul: North Korean troops have clashed for the first time with Ukrainian forces in Russia's war against Ukraine, as per the New York Times with the report also stating that the troops are occupying a portion of Kursk region in Russia. The New York Times reported this on Tuesday citing a senior Ukrainian and a senior US official. This follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming the first combat engagement between North Korean troops and Ukrainian forces and he said that some 11,000 North Korean soldiers were already in Russia's Kursk region. South Korea's Defence Ministry also on Tuesday said that some 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed in Russia, with a "considerable" number of them having been dispatched to front-line areas, Yonhap reported. However, as per the presidential office on Wednesday the North Korean troops in Russia's western front have not yet engaged in full-fledged combat with Ukrainian forces, the South Korean news agency reported. It cited a senior presidential official shaing the assessment. In an interview aired by South Korean public broadcaster KBS on Tuesday, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said that his country's military had engaged for the first time with North Korean troops. In the NYT report while the Ukrainian official offered no details about casualties, a US official said a significant number of North Korean troops were killed. The American newspaper reported that according to the Ukrainian official, the North Koreans fought together with a Russian naval infantry brigade. Zelenskyy in a statement said on Tuesday, "The first battles with North Korean soldiers open a new page of instability in the world." He called for support for his country's defence, saying the world needs to make the "Russian step to expand the war" a "failure." A US State Department spokesperson had on Monday said as many as 10,000 North Korean troops were in the Kursk region and could engage in combat in the "coming days." US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has called the North's presence in the war a "very serious" escalation that would have ramifications in Europe and Asia. Russia and North Korea have stepped up military cooperation since the beginning of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. In June, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang, Moscow and Pyongyang signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, which includes a provision for mutual assistance if either of them comes under attack. Meanwhile, Japanese state media Kyodo cited a former senior diplomat who defected from Pyongyang last year as saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has taken a "gamble" in sending troops to Russia. Ri Il Gyu, a former counselor at North Korea's embassy in Cuba, also told Kyodo News that Kim will never abandon his nuclear weapons programme, even though it has caused severe financial hardships in his country, as per the report in the Japanese state media. The NYT reports that North Korea has one of the world's largest militaries, with 1.2 million soldiers, but it has not fought in a major conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War. Russia, it said, has relied on North Korea to help replenish dwindling weapons stockpiles. Further it said The South also released satellite photos showing what it called Russian Navy ship movements near a North Korean port and hundreds of suspected North Korean soldiers assembling in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk. (ANI)
