In a high-level United Nations Security Council meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha held pieces of debris from a North Korean ballistic missile that had fallen on Ukrainian territory, criticizing the deployment of North Korean forces to Russia. At the meeting, which took place on the 18th local time in the U.S., Minister Sybiha remarked, “Russia is now standing in solidarity with rogue states like Iran and North Korea. The involvement of North Korean forces in the war demonstrates a new level of escalation and global conflict expansion.”
Holding up a small metal fragment, he stated, “This is an actual piece of the North Korean KN-23 that attacked Ukraine. It can carry 500 kg of explosives and recently struck a brewery near Kyiv on the 13th.”
Minister Sybiha added, “We know exactly what North Korea wants from Russia — new missile technologies, nuclear weapons, and other military programs.”
David Lammy, the British Foreign Minister, and current president of the Security Council for November, said, “Putin thought he would achieve victory in a few days, but as the war approaches 1,000 days, he has lost numerous soldiers. Putin is now seeking troops from North Korea and ballistic missiles from Iran, and there must be a resolute response.”
Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s ambassador to the UN, stated, “The South Korean government has confirmed North Korean troop participation in combat in Russia’s Kursk region, marking the first time since the Korean War that approximately 11,000 North Korean soldiers have actively engaged in battle.”
He further noted, “What is more concerning is that this deployment of North Korean troops might be just the beginning,” adding that “Kim Jong-un could exploit Moscow’s desperate situation to obtain advanced military technologies related to fuel, nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles.”
Meanwhile, Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, criticized the Joe Biden administration’s allowance for the use of long-range missiles in Ukraine capable of striking deep into Russian territory, calling it a “suicidal authorization.”