NATO Confirms North Korean Troops Deployed To Russian Kursk, Calls Security Threats More Real

JAKARTA - NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed North Korean troops were dispatched to Russia and North Korean military units deployed to the Kursk region.

"The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to the security of the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic," Rutte told reporters after NATO officials and diplomats received a briefing from the South Korean delegation.

Ukrainian forces launched a massive offensive on Kursk in August and remained in the region.

Rutte said the deployment of North Korean troops represented a significant escalation of Pyongyang's involvement in Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and dangerous war expansions.

Rutte said the deployment of North Korean troops was a sign of exciting despair' on the part of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

More than 600,000 Russian soldiers were killed or injured in Putin's war and he was unable to defend his attacks on Ukraine without foreign support, Rutte said.

The Kremlin denied reports of the deployment of North Korean troops and called them 'false news'.

But Putin on Thursday last week, did not deny North Korean troops were currently in Russia and said Moscow's business was how to implement a partnership agreement with Pyongyang.