The head of NATO confirmed that North Korea has sent troops to help Russia

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed this on Monday North Korean troops were sent to help Russia in its war against Ukraine, showing the “growing desperation” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rutte told reporters that increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea “is a threat” to Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

“Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and North Korean military units have been deployed in the Kursk region,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters.

Russia at present fighting off the Ukrainian invasion of Kurshchyna.

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North Korean soldiers march in a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Rutte said the addition of North Korean troops to the conflict represented a “significant escalation” and represented a “dangerous expansion” of Russia’s “illegal war”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin smile during a meeting at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport near Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP, file)

“More than 600,000 Russian soldiers died and were wounded in Putin’s war and he is unable to sustain his attack on Ukraine without external support,” Rutte said.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed troop movement on Wednesday in a statement, saying it would be a “very, very serious problem” if North Korean troops were to deploy to Ukraine.

The Kremlin dismissed reports of North Korea’s troop deployment as “fake news,” and North Korea’s UN representative called the reports “baseless rumors,” Reuters reports.

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Rutte spoke in Brussels after a high-level South Korean delegation, including senior intelligence and military officials, as well as senior diplomats, briefed the alliance’s 32 national ambassadors in NATO headquarters.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that North Korean troops have been sent to help Russia in the war against Ukraine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Rutte said that NATO is “actively consulting within the alliance, with Ukraine and our Indo-Pacific partners” on developments.

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“We continue to closely monitor the situation,” he said. He did not answer questions after the statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.