Conflict
Article reserved for subscribers
The announcement of a massive and unprecedented deployment of North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, raises questions about the use of these troops alongside the Russians and recalls Pyongyang’s commitments in previous conflicts.
It’s a double leap into the unknown and cobelligerence. Let it be «imminent» or in the “next weeks”, the deployment of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian troops is now a given. And a great historic first given the number and status of the troops concerned. It testifies to a rapprochement which has nothing symbolic or anecdotal between the weakened Russia of Vladimir Putin and the isolated North Korea of Kim Jong-un, and fuels fears of an escalation in Ukraine. Through the voice of its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choe Son-hui, who is continuing a visit to Moscow this Friday, Pyongyang has also trumpeted that it will always be “firmly alongside our Russian comrades until Victory Day.” His Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, confirmed that “very close contact (had) been established between the military and security services of the two countries. This allows us to resolve important issues for the safety of our citizens and yours.”
For several days, the Ukrainian, South Korean and American intelligence services have put forward figures which are around 10,000 or 12,000 men. On Thursday, October 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that 8,000 North Koreans
Canada
