The Fort Worth Press - US says N.Korean troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensions

USD -
AED 3.672997
AFN 66.498718
ALL 90.398579
AMD 387.619981
ANG 1.801219
AOA 911.999757
ARS 990.263702
AUD 1.522221
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.696617
BAM 1.798511
BBD 2.017904
BDT 119.42673
BGN 1.801445
BHD 0.376988
BIF 2900
BMD 1
BND 1.321097
BOB 6.906192
BRL 5.780399
BSD 0.999388
BTN 83.959427
BWP 13.36178
BYN 3.270664
BYR 19600
BZD 2.014566
CAD 1.392065
CDF 2887.501093
CHF 0.86456
CLF 0.034844
CLP 961.439783
CNY 7.118298
CNH 7.119295
COP 4422.88
CRC 512.124918
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.94964
CZK 23.305905
DJF 177.720249
DKK 6.862803
DOP 60.336536
DZD 133.093959
EGP 48.946201
ERN 15
ETB 120.790979
EUR 0.919774
FJD 2.275001
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.776979
GEL 2.74502
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.300876
GIP 0.765169
GMD 71.000425
GNF 8629.999936
GTQ 7.72177
GYD 208.997361
HKD 7.775335
HNL 25.075034
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.511913
HUF 375.478502
IDR 15695.35
ILS 3.74325
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.085602
IQD 1310
IRR 42092.506495
ISK 136.990161
JEP 0.765169
JMD 158.11229
JOD 0.709201
JPY 152.026504
KES 128.999946
KGS 85.816746
KHR 4064.999732
KMF 453.602537
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1376.069724
KWD 0.30659
KYD 0.832881
KZT 487.967042
LAK 21929.999984
LBP 89534.787372
LKR 292.775333
LRD 191.99999
LSL 17.66003
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.824976
MAD 9.846985
MDL 17.889887
MGA 4620.000181
MKD 56.707008
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 8.001343
MRU 40.000185
MUR 46.110071
MVR 15.350006
MWK 1735.9995
MXN 19.997295
MYR 4.378798
MZN 63.902755
NAD 17.660498
NGN 1642.789859
NIO 36.815005
NOK 11.01268
NPR 134.335084
NZD 1.676545
OMR 0.384986
PAB 0.999513
PEN 3.772499
PGK 3.980984
PHP 58.2845
PKR 277.874998
PLN 4.005815
PYG 7901.016594
QAR 3.640972
RON 4.577403
RSD 107.693027
RUB 97.37412
RWF 1360
SAR 3.755802
SBD 8.316332
SCR 14.649887
SDG 601.501938
SEK 10.674205
SGD 1.321555
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.650321
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 571.000262
SRD 34.366982
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.745189
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.659791
THB 33.810167
TJS 10.643995
TMT 3.51
TND 3.101015
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.2647
TTD 6.782046
TWD 31.941045
TZS 2710.000325
UAH 41.190291
UGX 3658.968335
UYU 41.179283
UZS 12807.507926
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 42.510372
VND 25280
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 603.217678
XAG 0.029645
XAU 0.000367
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.751221
XOF 605.49726
XPF 110.324988
YER 250.325026
ZAR 17.645104
ZMK 9001.196692
ZMW 26.759424
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.0800

    60.92

    -0.13%

  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    24.55

    -0.16%

  • NGG

    -1.4800

    63.59

    -2.33%

  • BTI

    0.6200

    34.98

    +1.77%

  • SCS

    -0.2000

    12.03

    -1.66%

  • AZN

    -1.6800

    71.15

    -2.36%

  • BCC

    -1.3400

    133.03

    -1.01%

  • GSK

    -0.2500

    36.76

    -0.68%

  • RELX

    -0.6900

    46.22

    -1.49%

  • RIO

    -1.0100

    64.89

    -1.56%

  • RYCEF

    -0.3900

    6.86

    -5.69%

  • BP

    0.3400

    29.36

    +1.16%

  • CMSD

    -0.1700

    24.66

    -0.69%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.08

    +0.23%

  • VOD

    -0.1200

    9.27

    -1.29%

  • BCE

    0.0200

    32.26

    +0.06%

US says N.Korean troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensions

US says N.Korean troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensions

The United States said Thursday that up to 8,000 North Korean troops have reached Russia's border region with Ukraine ready for combat, after Pyongyang's firing of a long-range missile ramped up tensions days before the US election.

Text size:

Seeking advantage in his grinding invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has brought in troops from North Korea, the first time Russia has invited foreign forces on its soil in more than a century.

Citing US intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have made their way to the Kursk border region.

"We've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days," Blinken told a news conference after four-way talks with the South Korean foreign and defense ministers.

Russia has been training North Korean troops in artillery, drones, basic artillery operations and trench clearing, "indicating that they fully intend to use these forces in frontline operations," Blinken said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that North Korean troops were being supplied with Russian uniforms.

"Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they would make themselves legitimate military targets," Austin said.

Austin said the United States was also preparing a new package of military support to Ukraine in light of the North Korean troops' arrival.

- Advance on missile technology -

South Korea, which previously said that the North was preparing a missile or even nuclear test ahead of US elections on Tuesday, said Pyongyang appeared to have fired a solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile on Thursday.

It flew 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) after being fired on a lofted trajectory -- meaning up, not out, the South Korean military said.

Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles -- which are quicker to launch and harder to detect and destroy in advance -- has long been a goal for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim called the sanctions-defying launch "an appropriate military action that fully meets the purpose of informing the rivals... of our counteraction will," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The test "updated the recent records of the strategic missile capability," of North Korea, the agency said, with Kim vowing his country "will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces."

Japan said that the "ICBM-class" missile had flown for longer than any other one previously tested by the North, staying airborne for about 86 minutes and hitting altitudes of 7,000 kilometers.

Blinken and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts discussed the launch in a joint telephone call, issuing a statement afterward urging North Korea to end its "provocative and destabilizing actions."

The missile could in theory strike the mainland United States, although Washington said there was no immediate risk from the test-firing.

China, historically North Korea's closest ally, said it was "concerned about developments on the (Korean) peninsula" and urged a "political resolution" to the issue.

- Ukraine outrage -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to South Korean media, denounced what he called inaction by his allies and said he was surprised by the "silence" of China on the North Korean troop deployment.

"I think that the reaction to this is nothing; it has been zero," Zelensky said.

South Korea has said it is reviewing whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine in response, an idea it has previously resisted due to longstanding domestic policy that prevents it from sending weaponry into active conflicts.

North Korea's missile launch "seems to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of its troop deployment," said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Seoul has warned that Russia may be providing new technology or expertise to Pyongyang in return for weapons and troops to help them fight Ukraine.

It is possible "Russia actually provided new technology for reentering the atmosphere," said Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies.

But it is more likely that Thursday's test was a bid to distract from the troop deployment and get "the world's attention ahead of the US presidential election," Ahn added.

Vice President Kamala Harris in a campaign rally Tuesday charged that Kim and Putin "are rooting" for her rival Donald Trump as he is "easy to manipulate with flattery and favor."

As president Trump met three times with Kim, unusually personal diplomacy that reduced tensions but did not yield a lasting agreement.

North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in the first comment in state media last week, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to happen, it would be in line with international law.

burs-sct/dw

S.Palmer--TFWP