US Says 8,000 North Korean Soldiers Have Reached Russia’s Kursk Region, Could Join Battle in Days

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said North Korean troops haven’t yet attacked Ukrainian forces, but ‘we would expect that to happen in the coming days.’

Soldiers participate in a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. KCNA via Reuters

Up to 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s western Kursk region and will likely begin fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukrainian forces along the Russia–Ukraine border in the coming days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Oct. 31.

The U.S. government has been monitoring what they believe to be a contingent of about 10,000 North Korean soldiers that arrived in Russia’s Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok in recent weeks and has since begun to move west toward the Ukrainian border.