U.S. should consider "direct military action" if N. Korean forces enter Ukraine - congressman
The U.S. should consider "direct military action" if North Korean troops join Russia’s war against Ukraine.
That’s according to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio), reports Ukrinform with reference to The Hill.
Turner (said yesterday that the United States should consider "direct military action" if North Korean troops go to war against Ukraine alongside Russia, after it became known that that thousands of military service members from this country are already in Russia, the report reads.
Earlier on Wednesday, the White House said Washington estimated at least 3,000 North Korean troops were training at military bases in eastern Russia, with fears that they would eventually be sent to Ukraine to fight alongside Moscow's forces.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the United States had obtained evidence of the presence of North Korean troops in Russia.
“The Biden-Harris Administration must make clear that North Korean troops entering this conflict are a red line for the United States,” Turner said in a statement.
“If North Korean troops were to invade Ukraine’s sovereign territory, the United States needs to seriously consider taking direct military action against the North Korean troops,” he added.
From the beginning to the middle of October, North Korea dispatched at least 3,000 troops to the east of Russia by ships from the Wonsan region in North Korea to the city of Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The North Korean soldiers were then brought to three military bases in eastern Russia, where they are undergoing basic combat training, Kirby said.
He added that, once completing the training, the soldiers will be able to be deployed to Russia’s west and then engage in combat operations against the Ukrainian military, which would "demonstrate Russia’s growing desperation in its war against Ukraine."
According to Kirby, the U.S. briefed the Ukrainian government on the situation, including the consequences of such a move and how the U.S. might respond.
He also warned that, if the North Korean military is engaged in a war against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets.
“If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game, they’re fair targets, and the Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers,” he said.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, citing Ukraine’s defense intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, North Korea is sending missiles and soldiers to Russia for the war against Ukraine in exchange for technology for tactical nuclear weapons.
Photo: KCNA