SEOUL (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the deployment of North Korean troops in the Ukraine conflict will likely escalate the war waged by Russia, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said on Wednesday after a phone call between the leaders.
The war will leave a greater impact on the security environment of Europe and the Indo-Pacific, Trudeau said, proposing closer cooperation between the two countries on the developing situation, according to Yoon’s office.
The United States confirmed on Tuesday some North Korean soldiers were in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August and hold hundreds of square kilometres of territory.
A couple of thousand more were heading there, the Pentagon said.
South Korean officials have said some of the North Korean troops may have been moved to the frontline and expressed worry about what Russia may be providing to Pyongyang in return.
“Prime Minister Trudeau said that the possibility of the Ukraine war becoming more fierce has increased with the North Korean troops’ deployment to Russia, and this will have an impact on the overall security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” Yoon’s office said.
Yoon said the pace of North Korean troop deployment in the Ukraine conflict had been faster than expected, creating a dangerous situation, his office said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war but said it was Russia’s business how it implements a partnership treaty he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed in June.
The Pentagon estimated 10,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to eastern Russia for training, up from an estimate of 3,000 troops last Wednesday.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)