- North Korea is learning combat lessons fighting Ukraine, a US official said.
- It means the authoritarian state is more of a threat to its neighbors.
- North Korea has dispatched around 12,000 troops to fight for Russia.
North Korea is learning valuable lessons from fighting against Ukraine, making it an increased threat to its neighbors, a US official said.
In recent months, North Korea has sent around 12,000 troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine as part of a new security pact between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The fighting has been concentrated in the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukraine has seized and held swaths of territory.
In exchange, North Korea is receiving economic and diplomatic backing from Russia, as well as valuable military technology.
Dorothy Camille Shea, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, discussed the arrangement at the UN Security Council, Reuters reported.
North Korea “is significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors,” she said.
“In turn, the DPRK will likely be eager to leverage these improvements to promote weapons sales and military training contracts globally,” she said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
After brokering its alliance with Russia, North Korea has taken a defiant posture and on Monday tested a ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead.
The test came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea. The timing seemed intended to showcase North Korea’s capacity to overcome the defenses of the US and its regional allies.
South Korea has watched North Korea’s involvement in the Ukraine war with growing concern. It said last year it could provide Ukraine with intensified support in response to the alliance with Russia.
The UN has long sought to constrain North Korea’s military program, specifically its ability to deploy nuclear weapons, by imposing severe sanctions.
But Russia has used its place on the UN Security Council to stymie a committee formed to enforce them.
On Wednesday, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, argued that North Korea’s new missile tests were a defensive measure in response to military exercises by the US and its regional allies.
Under President Joe Biden, the US reaffirmed its commitment to help defend east Asian regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.
President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he may take a more transactional approach to broker a deal with Kim, a path he pursued in his first term.
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