House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner warned on Friday that the potential deployment of North Korean troops fighting Ukraine for Russia would cross a “red line” for the U.S. and NATO.
The Ohio Republican demanded a White House briefing in a letter to President Joe Biden, inquiring as to why his administration has not briefed House Intelligence nor the House Armed Services Committee about North Korea’s troop movements.
“These troop movements, if true, are alarming and are an extreme escalation of the conflict in Ukraine,” Turner wrote. “They require an immediate response from the United States and our NATO allies to avoid a widening conflict.”
South Korean intelligence revealed on Friday that at least 1,500 North Korean soldiers had arrived in the Russian port city of Vladivostok on Russian naval vessels from October 8 to 13, with more manpower on the way. The North Korean soldiers received Russian military uniforms, weapons, and forged identification upon arrival, the South Korean spy agency said.
South Korea’s report corroborated Ukrainian intelligence’s findings that North Korea is deploying its forces to Russia.
On Thursday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said over 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently preparing to fight against his country on behalf of Russia. Zelensky noted he spoke about the development with the U.S. and other world leaders. His statement was cited in Turner’s Friday letter.
“North Korean troops, either attacking Ukraine from Russian territory or entering into Ukrainian territory, must be a red line for the United States and NATO,” the congressman wrote. “Your administration must make that absolutely clear and unequivocal.”
Turner called on the White House to deliver an “immediate classified briefing” to House Intelligence about North Korea’s reported troop movements in Russia.
Both NATO and the Pentagon said this week they could not confirm or corroborate the reports. However, the State Department said the U.S. is concerned about Russia’s military alliance with North Korea.
In June, Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un signed a historic partnership deal that included a vow of mutual aid if either country is under attack. The U.S. and its allies worried that the growing alliance between the two nations would involve an arms deal in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with weapons for use in the Ukraine war.
North Korea has supplied Russia with more than 13,000 containers of artillery rounds, ballistic missiles, and anti-tank rockets since August last year, according to South Korea. North Korea shipped a total of 8 million artillery and missile rounds to its ally.
North Korea has repeatedly denied accusations of its supplying troops or arms to Russia in the latter’s invasion of Ukraine. Regarding the possibility of North Korean troops fighting alongside their Russian counterparts, the Kremlin cast those reports as “another piece of fake news” last week.
North Korea has the world’s fourth largest army, with nearly 1.3 million personnel in active duty. Russia will soon become the second largest military in the world, with 1.5 million active troops, after Putin recently decreed his country’s third soldier increase since the beginning of the Ukraine war in February 2022.