KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that North Korean troops were back on the front line in Russia’s Kursk region, after reports Moscow had withdrawn them due to heavy losses.
More than 10,000 soldiers from the reclusive state were sent to Russia last year to help it fight back a shock Ukrainian offensive into the border region, according to South Korean and Western intelligence.
A Ukrainian military spokesman told AFP last Friday that Kyiv had not encountered activity or clashes with North Korean troops for three weeks.
“There have been new assaults in the Kursk operation areas... the Russian army and North Korean soldiers have been brought in again,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
The Ukrainian leader said a “significant number” of opposing troops had been “destroyed.”
“We are talking about hundreds of Russian and North Korean soldiers,” he added.
Kyiv captured dozens of border settlements in its Kursk assault six months ago, the first time a foreign army had crossed into Russian territory since World War II.
The North Korean deployment, never officially confirmed by Moscow or Pyongyang, was supposed to reinforce the Russian army and help them expel Ukraine’s troops.
But as of February Ukraine still holds swathes of Russian territory, something Zelensky sees as a bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Moscow.
Zelensky says North Korean troops back on Russia front line
https://arab.news/bacfs
Zelensky says North Korean troops back on Russia front line
- “There have been new assaults in the Kursk operation areas... the Russian army and North Korean soldiers have been brought in again,” Zelensky said
- The Ukrainian leader said a “significant number” of opposing troops had been “destroyed“
North Korea’s KCNA: Japan’s ambition for nuclear weapons should be curbed
- In October, US President Donald Trump said he has given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine, after his visit to the Asian ally for a summit on trade deala with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung
SEOUL: North Korea said Japan’s ambition for possession of nuclear weapons should be “thoroughly curbed,” state media KCNA reported on Sunday.
Japan is showing the intention to possess nuclear weapons explicitly by saying it needs to review the three non-nuclear principles, KCNA said citing a commentary of North Korea’s foreign-policy official.
Japan began making such comments actively as soon as the United States approved a request from South Korea for building a nuclear submarine, the media said.
In October, US President Donald Trump said he has given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine, after his visit to the Asian ally for a summit on trade deala with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
