NATO warns- If North Korea sends troops to Ukraine to aid Russia, it will seriously escalate the situation_1

In a recent interview, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stark warning regarding the potential involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine. He emphasized that if North Korea sends forces to support Russia, it would result in a “significant escalation” of the situation.

Rutte made these remarks on social media platform X, where he also shared that he had a conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. They discussed NATO’s close partnership with Seoul, defense industrial cooperation, and the interconnected security concerns between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

He stressed, “The deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces in Ukraine would signify a serious escalation of the conflict.”

On October 18, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service revealed that North Korea has decided to send troops in “large numbers” to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine. Reports indicated that 1,500 special forces troops are currently undergoing training in Russia’s Far East, with the possibility of being deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine.

In response, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev to protest North Korea’s recent military assistance to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Officials demanded the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops, emphasizing that they would employ all available measures to address the situation.

The Russian Embassy in South Korea stated that Zinoviev reassured the South Korean Foreign Ministry that the cooperation between Russia and North Korea “is not aimed at undermining” South Korea’s security interests.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the situation, stating, “North Korea is our close neighbor and partner. We are developing bilateral relations across various fields, which is our sovereign right. We will continue to advance this cooperation.”

When pressed by reporters about whether Russia is utilizing North Korean troops, Peskov refrained from giving a direct answer, simply reiterating his previous points.