NATO chief confirms deployment of North Korean troops in Kursk, Russia

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO head officially confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops in Kursk, Russia.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutter held a briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels on the 28th local time after hearing the South Korean government's delegation's explanation on the North Korean military's dispatch trend.

"We can confirm that North Korean troops have been transferred to Russia and that North Korean troops have been deployed to the Kursk region of Russia," Rutter said.

He then urged Russia and North Korea to stop immediately, saying, "The deployment of North Korean troops means that Russia's illegal war has expanded, not only threatens the security of the Indo-Pacific and the European Atlantic, but also undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula."

He then said that more than 600,000 Russian soldiers were killed or injured in the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and interpreted that North Korea's dispatch proves Putin's despair.

In addition, NATO is actively consulting and closely monitoring the situation within the alliance and with Ukraine and its Indo-Pacific allies.

Rutter said he would then speak to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

A government delegation headed by Hong Jang-won, the first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, attended a meeting of the North Atlantic Council presided over by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutter on the morning of the 28th to explain the trend of sending North Korean troops.