War in Ukraine: in the Kursk region, the presence of North Korean soldiers raises fears of an escalation of the conflict

As the days go by, the numbers swell and tension rises. South Korea initially mentioned 1,500 soldiers sent to Russia by North Korea with a goal of 12,000 eventually in a press release from its intelligence service (NIS) dated October 18. It would now be almost a done deal, according to the Ukrainian president.

Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, November 4, that 11,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed in the Russian region of Kursk to support the Kremlin army, which is trying to expel Ukrainian forces from this border territory. “ There are already 11,000 in the Kursk region. We see an increase in the number of North Koreans but no increase in the reaction of our partners,” added the head of state, continuing his campaign to obtain authorization from his allies to use the weapons provided to strike Russian territory.

The same day Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, recalled that Antony Blinken “ declared last week that around 8,000 North Korean troops had been sent to the Kursk region » before asserting that“Today, we estimate that around 10,000 have gone there and could participate in the battle in the coming days.”

Neither confirmation nor denial from Moscow and Pyongyang

For his part, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “very worried” of this possible deployment on the front facing Ukraine, via a press release from its spokesperson on Sunday. “This would represent a very dangerous escalation of the conflict” between kyiv and Moscow, adds the press release from Stéphane Dujarric.

Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied the arrival of these troops. On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin received the head of North Korean diplomacy, Choe Son Hui, at the Kremlin on Monday and did not fail to communicate on this relationship which is part of a treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries signed on June 19 by the Russian president and Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang. North Korea will stand by Russia until its « victoire » in Ukraine, Choe Son Hui warned Friday in Moscow when his counterpart Sergei Lavrov greeted him “very close contacts (…) established between the military and the security services”.

It remains to be seen whether and where soldiers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will actually be deployed. In any case, South Korea could find the justification to engage further in its support for kyiv, the risks of escalation would however be all the more significant if this deployment were to take place in territories considered as its own by Russia but Ukrainians by the international community.