US Says Korean Troops Ready for Ukraine Combat as Missile Raises Tensions

The United States said Thursday that up to 8,000 North Korean troops have reached Russia's border region with Ukraine trained and ready for combat, as Pyongyang's firing of a long-range missile ramped up tensions days before the US election.

Seeking advantage in his grinding invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has brought in troops and military hardware from North Korea, the first time Russia has invited foreign forces on its soil in more than a century.

Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have made their way to the Kursk border region.

"We've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days," Blinken told a news conference after four-way talks with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and the South Korean foreign and defense ministers.

Russia has been training North Korean troops to handle artillery and drones and to clear trenches, "indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in frontline operations," Blinken said.

Austin said the deployment of North Korean troops, who he said were being put in Russian uniforms, "just underscores how badly Putin's war has gone."

"This 10,000 won't come close to replacing the numbers that the Russians have lost," Austin said.

He warned: "Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would make themselves legitimate military targets."

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North Korea, badly in need of cash, is also estimated to have sent more than 1,000 missiles to Russia as well as millions of munition pieces, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said.

- Advance on missile technology -

South Korea, which previously said that the North was preparing a missile or even nuclear test ahead of Tuesday's US election, said Pyongyang appeared to have fired a solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile that flew 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).

Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles -- which are quicker to launch and harder to detect and destroy in advance -- has long been a goal for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim called the sanctions-defying launch "an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals... of our counteraction will," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Japan said that the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flew longer than any previously tested by the North, staying airborne for about 86 minutes and hitting altitudes of 7,000 kilometers.

The missile could in theory strike the mainland United States, although Washington said there was no risk from the test-firing.

Blinken and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts discussed the launch in a joint telephone call, issuing a statement afterwards urging North Korea to end its "provocative and destabilizing actions."

China, historically North Korea's closest ally, said it was "concerned about developments" and urged a "political resolution" to the issue.

Blinken said that the United States recently had a "robust" conversation with China on US concerns about North Korea.

- Ukraine outrage -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to South Korean media, denounced what he called inaction by his allies on North Korean troops and said he was surprised by the "silence" of China.

"I think that the reaction to this is nothing; it has been zero," Zelensky said.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, on a visit to Canada, called the North Korean troops a "true escalation of this war" and urged Western partners in response to "lift all the restrictions" on firing long-range missiles into Russia.

Austin later said that the United States would soon announce new military support to Ukraine. South Korea for its part has been evaluating whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine, breaking its longstanding policy against sending arms into active conflicts.

North Korea's missile launch "seems to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of its troop deployment," said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Austin said there was no evidence that Russia had provided technology for the ICBM.

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said the test was also a bid to get "the world's attention ahead of the US presidential election."

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday charged that Kim and Putin "are rooting" for her rival Donald Trump as he is "easy to manipulate with flattery and favor."

Trump met three times with the long-isolated Kim, an unusually personal style of diplomacy that reduced tensions but did not yield a lasting agreement.

North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in the first comment in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to happen, it would be in line with international law.