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| ▲ This Dec. 16, 2024, screenshot shows a photo from the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda of what it described to be Russian and North Korean soldiers killed in combat. It has been partially blurred. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) NK troops-casualties
(LEAD) U.S. confirms N. Korean fatalities in combat against Ukraine
(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with State Department's briefing)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- The United States has seen North Korean troops killed in action during combat alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Monday, warning that should they cross the border into Ukraine, it would mark "yet another escalation."
Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made the remarks as Kyiv's intelligence authorities have said that some 200 Russian and North Korean soldiers were estimated to have been killed while fighting in combined units against Ukrainian forces.
"In our view, the North Korean soldiers who were deployed to Kursk are already legitimate targets. They entered a war and they are as such combatants that are legitimate targets for the Ukrainian military," Miller told a press briefing.
"We have seen North Korean soldiers who have been killed in action on the battlefield inside Russia, and if they were to cross the border into Ukraine, that would be yet another escalation by the government of Russia and also an escalation by the government of North Korea to send North Korean troops to prosecute a war of aggression against an independent sovereign nation inside that nation's borders," he added.
Miller also pointed out that there is "certainly more" that China can do to encourage Russia not to take escalatory action and other moves that it has taken.
Earlier in the day, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the U.S. assesses that North Korean troops have suffered casualties, including fatalities, during combat against Ukraine, according to Reuters.
"We do assess that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk ... we do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded," Ryder was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters. Kursk is Russia's western front line.
Ryder noted that North Korean troops entered combat last week. He did not elaborate on the number of North Korean casualties.
In a statement published Saturday (local time), Ukraine's Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) said that North Korean soldiers have been mobilized for assault operations as part of combined units of Russian marines and airborne troops.
The DIU claimed that North Korean troops suffered "irreversible losses" from Ukraine's attacks, and noted that the language barrier is an issue for Russian and North Korean combined units in conducting coordinated operations.
The U.S. has said that Pyongyang has sent more than 11,000 troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. The troop deployment has fueled concerns that it could further prolong the war and have security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
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