Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on October 28 that North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine, the first time foreign ground troops have been involved in the war. Rutte cited intelligence from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, its defence ministry, and Nato allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned over the weekend that North Korean soldiers would be in active combat within days, noting that North Korea was preparing to send a contingent of 10,000 troops to bolster Russian forces in occupied Ukrainian territories. 

South Korea has condemned the move, signalling it may counter by sending weapons to Ukraine in a phased response.

Rutte voiced Nato’s concerns, urging Russia and North Korea to withdraw, warning that the deployment could destabilise both regional and global security. “It undermines peace on the Korean peninsula and fuels the Russian war against Ukraine,” Rutte said.

“The deployment of North Korean troops represents: one, a significant escalation in the DPRK's ongoing involvement in Russia's illegal war. Two, yet another breach of UN Security Council resolutions. And three, a dangerous expansion of Russia's war,” he added, according to a Nato statement. 

“Pyongyang has already supplied Russia with millions of rounds of ammunition and ballistic missiles that are fuelling a major conflict in the heart of Europe and undermining global peace and security. In exchange, [President] Putin is providing North Korea with military technology and other support to circumvent international sanctions. This underlines the importance of democracies standing together to uphold our values and to face our shared security challenges.” 

Rutte also called the decision to deploy North Korean troops a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's “growing desperation” after over 600,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the war. 

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) reported on October 27 that Russian forces are transporting North Korean personnel via civilian-labelled trucks. HUR disclosed that Russian police recently halted a Kamaz truck loaded with North Korean soldiers on the Kursk-Voronezh highway, reportedly lacking official combat orders. Audio obtained from HUR suggests that members of Russia’s 810th Separate Marine Brigade were coordinating the transport of North Korean reinforcements.

Though initially dismissed as Ukrainian propaganda, recent statements from Moscow and Pyongyang have shifted from denial to justification of North Korean involvement in the conflict.