LONDON — North Korea’s Overseas Minister Choe Son-hui left Pyongyang on Monday evening for an official go to to Russia, North Korean state-controlled media reported, because the U.S. and NATO once more denounced rising army cooperation between the 2 neighbors.
The Korean Central Information Company stated Choe and her entourage departed Pyongyang Worldwide Airport on Monday, with Moscow’s ambassador to the nation Alexander Matsegora amongst those that noticed the delegation off.
The go to “is going down throughout the framework of a strategic dialogue — following an settlement to reinforce ties reached by the leaders of our nations in the course of the June 2024 summit,” a overseas ministry assertion stated.
The go to comes as Western considerations develop in regards to the presence of North Korea troops in Russia forward of their anticipated deployment to bolster Moscow’s troops combating Ukrainian forces in jap Ukraine and western Russia.
On this photograph offered by the North Korean authorities, North Korean Overseas Minister Choe Son Hui (C) prepares to depart for Russia from Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct. 28, 2024.
Korean Central Information Company/Korea Information Service by way of AP
President Joe Biden on Monday commented on the state of affairs after casting his vote for subsequent week’s elections in Delaware.
“It is very harmful, very harmful,” Biden informed reporters.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh informed reporters at a Monday briefing that the U.S. believes there at the moment are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, up from the American estimate of three,000 given by Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson John Kirby final week.
The troops have been despatched “to coach in jap Russia” and “will most likely increase Russian forces close to Ukraine over the subsequent a number of weeks,” she stated.
Singh stated a few of Pyongyang’s troops are shifting in the direction of Russia’s western Kursk area, the place Ukrainian forces established a foothold in August.
“A portion of these troopers have already moved nearer to Ukraine, and we’re more and more involved that Russia intends to make use of these troopers in fight or to assist fight operations towards Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, close to the border with Ukraine,” she stated.
Singh — like Kirby and Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin final week — framed the deployment as an indication of Moscow’s weak point.
Members of the Korean Vietnam Battle Veterans Affiliation wave nationwide flags throughout a rally towards a latest deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 28, 2024.
Ahn Younger-joon/AP
“This might mark an additional escalation and highlights President [Vladimir] Putin’s rising desperation, as Russia has suffered extraordinary casualties on the battlefield, and a sign that Putin could also be in additional hassle than folks notice,” she stated.
“He is tin-cupping to the DPRK, Iran, as a result of he has failed to fulfill these battlefield aims,” Singh added, utilizing the acronym of the nation’s official identify — the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea.
ABC Information’ Ellie Kaufman, Matthew Seyler and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
