TRANSCRIPT
The U-S says a further 8,000 North Korean soldiers have bene deployed to Kursk in western Russia.
They will potentially help North Korea's long-time ally, in its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting, the U-S ambassador to the U-N, Robert Wood, has issued a warning to Russia not to make use of the North Korean soldiers.
"We heard yesterday the international community's serious concerns that Russia may be planning to use DPRK (North Korean) soldiers against Ukrainian forces. We caution Russia not to make such a dangerous miscalculation. DPRK participation in combat against Ukraine would be an alarming expansion of the conflict. Already, the DPRK's troop deployment in Russia marks a dangerous expansion in Russian-DPRK ties.”
U-S officials estimate that, in total, there are around 10,000 North Korean soldiers currently in Russia ready to be deployed, with Ukraine putting that figure at 12,000.
The U-S Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin says the troops have received special training and equipment from Russia.
He has described the potential use of North Korean soldiers in the invasion of Ukraine as a sign of Russian weakness.
"The Kremlin's North Korean gambit just underscores how badly Putin's war has gone and how much trouble he's in. This was the first time in more than a century that Russia has welcomed foreign troops onto its own soil."
Mr Austin joined a bilateral meeting between U-S Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Tae-Yul where they discussed the issue.
The South Korean Minister strongly criticised the deployment of North Korean troops, claiming they are a violation of U-N's resolutions.
Mr Blinken says they are monitoring Russia's movements, and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine.
"Our two sides today discussed a range of options in response and we're closely coordinating with allies and partners, particularly our European partners. We're continuing to serve security assistance to Ukraine, the United States. And we'll announce more in the coming days.''
Following months of a drawn out war within its own borders, Ukraine launched a military campaign against the Russian invasion last August, occupying a large part of its western Kursk region.
The Russian forces eventually launched a counter-offensive and took back parts of the region, with some territories of Kursk remaining under Ukrainian control.
Mr Wood has also accused China of extending the length of the war by aiding Russia's efforts.
“China continues to downplay its large-scale support for Russia's defence industrial base, providing materials key to Russia's defence production, including weapons components, UAV and cruise missile technology, machine tools, microelectronics and nitrocellulose. PRC based companies have even collaborated with Russian defence firms to design and produce long range attack drones. China cannot credibly claim to be a voice for peace when it enables Russia to wage the largest war in Europe in decades. China's support to Russia is decisive. China's support is prolonging the war.”
The accusations have been rejected by the Chinese representative to the U-N, Geng Shuang.
Mandarin, then translated “China has not provided weapons to any party related to the conflict in Ukraine. And China has strictly managed to use items according to WTO rules and market rules together with Russia, Ukraine and other countries, China has conducted normal economic and trade cooperation. This is legal and there is nothing to blame. We oppose the U.S. practice to smear China on the question of Ukraine and to conduct long-arm jurisdiction and sanction Chinese companies and entities on this question.”
It comes following the latest test launch of an internationally banned ballistic missile by North Korea.
The intercontinental missile was in the air for a total of 86 minutes - a record time - before crash landing in the waters off North Korea's east coast.
North Korea has been test-launching several missiles, raising tensions with neighbouring nations such as Japan and South Korea.
Mr Blinken has criticised these actions.
''Now, one of the things that we emphasised today was a reaffirmation of the United States' ironclad commitment to the Republic of Korea's (ROK, South Korea) security, and that includes through extended deterrence. That's especially important in light of the ongoing provocations coming from North Korea, including another ICBM launch just yesterday. We condemn it in the strongest terms. The latest launch of many and other provocative actions that it's taken; flagrant violations of all of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.''
