Using surprisingly blunt words which are clearly a warning and a threat, the United States envoy to the UN, Robert Wood, has said that North Korean forces entering Ukraine “will surely return in body bags.”

Wood issued the words while speaking before the UN security council on Wednesday. He said that if Pyongyang’s forces “enter Ukraine in support of Russia, they will surely return in body bags.” He then warned, “I would advise Chairman Kim [Jong-un] to think twice about engaging in such reckless and dangerous behavior.”

USUN/X

Over the past couple of weeks it has been widely reported that some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, having arrived at Russia’s far eastern port of Vladivostok.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin separately addressed the issue in a Wednesday briefing, saying from the Pentagon, “I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia” – in reference to the North Koreans.

Austin described that the United States will “continue to work with allies and partners to discourage Russia from employing these troops in combat.”

Earlier this week the White House said these foreign forces would become “legitimate military targets” if they enter the fight against Ukraine.

Austin in follow-up also affirmed that the NK troops would be “co-belligerents, and you have every reason to believe that …they will be killed and wounded as a result of battle.”

But Austin also forewarned Ukraine and the Western allies that despite all of these repeat warnings, there remains a “good likelihood” that Moscow is still going to move forward.

He explained that if North Korean troops “are fighting alongside Russian soldiers in this conflict and attacking Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers have the right to defend themselves.”

Ukraine has thus far alleged that these forces are helping Russia to establish control in Kursk province, which has seen Ukrainian forces occupy broad swathes of land since the risky cross-border incursion which began in early August:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is expecting clashes between North Korean and Ukrainian troops within days.

In an interview with the Korean Broadcasting System, the national broadcaster of South Korea, Zelensky said: “So far, North Korean troops have not participated in battles. They are preparing to participate in battles (in Kursk).”

Earlier this week NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also put Moscow and Pyongyang on notice, saying “The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.” He claimed further that “The deployment [of] North Korean troops to Kursk is also a sign of Putin’s growing desperation.”

North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, upgrading what it called the ‘world’s most powerful strategic weapon,’ as Seoul warned Pyongyang could get missile technology from Russia for helping with the war in Ukraine https://t.co/SL1xbwcOmP pic.twitter.com/dXbnCCwmR3

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 31, 2024

The Kremlin has since then appeared to admit some level of North Korean military troop assistance related to the Ukraine conflict: 

In a response, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed to a security and defense treaty signed by Moscow and Pyongyang in June.

“We have said many times that the treaty is not secret, it is public, the entire text has been published, and it in no way violates any provisions of international law, because it involves, among other things, the providing of assistance in case one of the countries that is a party to the treaty is militarily attacked,” he told a press conference in Moscow, in comments reported by the Interfax news agency.

Lavrov added: “So our position here is absolutely honest and open.” But nothing has been disclosed in terms details of precisely where DPRK soldiers might be operating.