On the 24th (local time), the U.S. Department of Defense stated that it had “nothing to disclose” regarding the Ukrainian military’s claim that North Korean troops deployed to Russia have been stationed in battlefields such as Kursk.
Deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh, during a briefing, was asked about reports from Ukrainian media claiming that the first group of North Korean soldiers trained in Russia had been deployed to battlefields including Kursk in the Russian mainland. She responded similarly, providing no further updates.
When asked about any updates on North Korean troops dispatched to Russia, she replied, “There’s nothing to update,” but noted, “As Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mentioned yesterday, we have evidence that North Korean troops have gone to Russia, and we need to monitor what exactly they will do.”
In response to follow-up questions on whether there was no evidence of the North Korean troops moving from their training site to another location, she simply replied, “nothing,” adding, “We need to see what they will do.”
Regarding the significance of North Korean deployment to Russia, Singh noted that “Vladimir Putin has become desperate enough to ask North Korea to deploy troops to the battlefield,” emphasizing that “should North Korea participate in combat, they would become a co-belligerent, which is a very serious issue.”
She further stated, “If soldiers from North Korea participate in operational combat in Ukraine, it will create instability in the Indo-Pacific and affect allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, including Korea.”
Regarding the possibility of North Korean nuclear tests, she stated, “There is nothing to disclose,” added, “We are witnessing threatening and dangerous rhetoric from North Korea, and we take it seriously, but there have been no changes in our nuclear readiness.”