If DPRK military participates in war against Ukraine, they are legitimate targets for AFU - Kirby
If the DPRK military appears at the front, they will be legitimate targets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was stated by John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the White House National Security Council, Censor.NET reports citing "European Pravda".
Kirby noted that the United States does not currently have accurate data on why North Korean troops went to Russia and whether they will actually be involved in hostilities against Ukrainian forces.
"If they do participate in the war against Ukraine, they are legitimate targets, legitimate military targets. And the Ukrainian military will defend itself against the North Korean military in the same way that it defends itself against the Russian military," the White House official said.
DPRK Military Participation in Russia's War Against Ukraine
On 17 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was training ten thousand North Korean troops for the war in Ukraine, including infantry.
Earlier, the Washington Post wrote that several thousand soldiers from the DPRK are undergoing training in Russia and may be sent to the frontline in Ukraine.
In early October, South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun said that the DPRK could send its military to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in support of Russia's war against our country.
The head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andrii Kovalenko, said that the information about Russia's alleged preparation of soldiers from the DPRK to be sent to the frontline in Ukraine is not true.
On 15 October, the media reported that on the basis of the 11th separate airborne assault brigade of the Russian occupation army, Russians began to form a so-called "special Buryat battalion". It will be staffed by North Korean citizens.
Later, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that almost 11,000 soldiers from North Korea are currently training in eastern Russia to fight against Ukraine. They will be ready for combat as early as 1 November.
At the same time, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the United States has not yet confirmed that North Korea has sent troops to Russia.
South Korea summons Russia's ambassador to Seoul over the DPRK's involvement in the war against Ukraine.
It was reported that eighteen North Korean soldiers had already escaped from the Russian army positions on the border of Ukraine with the Bryansk and Kursk regions. Later it became known that they had been detained.
South Korea's Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council, Jongkook Hwang, said that Russia could pay for the participation of North Korea's military in the war against Ukraine with nuclear weapons technology.
And The Guardian wrote that Russia could send North Korean troops to capture Pokrovsk in Donetsk region or to conduct winter assaults on other important areas on Ukraine's eastern front.
