United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has been urging China, which maintains relations with North Korea, to put pressure on Pyongyang to withdraw North Korean troops from Ukraine's front line, CNN reported on Oct. 29, citing a U.S. official.
According to the unnamed official, Sullivan “directed the US government to engage the PRC to organize an effort to get other countries to reach out to the PRC as well over our concerns about DPRK sending troops into Russia and the implications of that” — using PRC to refer to the country's full name as the People's Republic of China.
CNN reported on Oct. 29 that a small number of North Korean forces are already on the territory of Ukraine, citing two Western intelligence officers.
NATO and the Pentagon previously confirmed that North Korean troops were training in Russia and that some of them were on their way to Russia's Kursk Oblast, part of which Ukrainian forces have controlled since August.
Speaking at a press conference on Oct. 28, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the U.S. has been in contact with China about North Korea troop presence alongside Ukraine's front line, but did not provide detail on the conversations.
“We have communicated with the PRC about this matter to make clear that we are concerned about it, and that they ought to be concerned about this destabilizing action by two of its neighbors, Russia and North Korea,” Miller said.
Estimates on the number of North Korean troops sent to the Ukraine-Russia front line have varied. U.S. officials estimated around 3,000 North Korean troops were training in Russia, but National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby indicated that the overall count could now be higher.
South Korean intelligence has informed lawmakers that North Korean troop numbers in Russia could reach 10,000 by December, while Kyiv has said that Pyongyang has sent nearly 12,000 troops to Russia, including 500 officers and three generals.
The first North Korean troops were to be deployed in the combat zone on Oct. 27 or 28, President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier.
Despite the urging of the United States, some Western officials are pessimistic about the country's ability to pressure China into helping pull back North Korean troops, with a NATO official telling CNN that China has been a "critical enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine.
China's support for Russia's defense industry has played a significant role in shifting the battlefield momentum in Ukraine in Moscow's favor.
Reuters reported on Sept. 25 citing European intelligence sources that Russia has secretly established a development and production program in China for attack drones to be used in the war in Ukraine
On Oct. 24, China denied that it was of any North Korean troops inside Russia preparing to join Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, despite warnings from the U.S. and South Korea.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened ties since the full-scale war began, including signing a new mutual defense pact. Ukraine and Western governments have previously accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia – allegations both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied.
Kateryna Hodunova
