Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier also said the U.S. has seen evidence that North Korean troops were in the former Soviet state.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) swiftly released a statement saying Washington should consider taking “direct military action” if North Korean troops enter the war in Ukraine.
“The Biden-Harris Administration must make clear that North Korean troops entering this conflict are a red line for the United States,” Turner said.
“If North Korean troops were to invade Ukraine’s sovereign territory, the United States needs to seriously consider taking direct military action against the North Korean troops,” he added.
Between early to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia via ships from the Wonsan region in North Korea to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
The soldiers then traveled onward to three military sites in eastern Russia where they are undergoing basic combat training, Kirby said.
“We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability,” he said.
He added that after completing training, the soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military, a development that would “demonstrate Russia’s growing desperation in its war against Ukraine.”
The U.S. has briefed the Ukrainian government on the situation, to include the implications of such a move and how the U.S. might respond, according to Kirby.
He also gave a stark warning that should the North Korean troops be employed against Ukraine, “they will become legitimate military targets.”
“If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game, they’re fair targets, and the Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers,” he said.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
