Over 11,000 North Korean troops in Kursk, U.S. says

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui during their meeting in Moscow, in this photo released by TASS.

SEOUL, November 5 (AJP) - More than10,000 North Korean soldiers moved to Kursk, a Russian territory occupied by Ukraine, and they may engage in battles "in the coming days," a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Monday.
   
"Up from when we spoke [last] Thursday when we said as many as 8,000 were there. Now we can see – we assess that as many as 10,000 have made their way to Kursk," Matthew Miller said in a press briefing. 

He added that the North's troops were "likely that they would enter into combat against Ukrainian forces, and if they did, they would be legitimate military targets."

On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said during his evening speech that 11,000 North Korean soldiers are in Kursk now.

"There are already 11,000 of [North Korean troops] in the Kursk region. We are seeing an increase in North Koreans but, unfortunately, not an increase in our partners' response," Zelensky sighed.

Amid growing concerns over North Korea's impending involvement in the war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin had an unexpected meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui on Monday, who is in Moscow for talks with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Putin met with Choe, "who is on a working visit to Russia," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Russia's state-run news agency TASS, quoting him as saying, "Today is a holiday, and meeting with friends on a holiday is a very good tradition."

Details of their talks were not revealed, but pundits speculated that Putin would thank Choe for North Korea's troop assistance and that they also discussed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's reciprocal visit to Moscow.

Putin, who visited Pyongyang in June this year, asked Kim to visit the Russian capital.