Ukrainian and North Korean soldiers clash for the first time, Zelenskyy warns of escalation

Ukraine has engaged militarily for the first time with South Korean troops deployed to support Russia in its ongoing war with its neighbor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in his late-night speech.

Zelenskyy did not elaborate on his engagement but he warned of what he says is Russia's intention to escalate the war that has been going on for almost a thousand days.

An official in Kyiv said Ukrainian troops opened fire on North Korean troops in the Kursk border region.

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“Fear, unfortunately, can spread like a virus if it is not met with enough opposition. Now our fight must be enough, strong enough. The first battles with North Korean troops have opened a new chapter of instability in the world,” said Zelenskyy in his video address at night as he thanked Ukraine's partners around the world.

“Together with the country, we must do everything so that this Russian step to increase the war with real escalation fails. Both in Russia and in South Korea.”

South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that more than 10,000 North Korean troops had arrived in Russia, with a “significant number” in frontline areas, including the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces attacked in August.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean state television that there had been “minor negotiations” with North Korean troops, according to Reuters. The report, which included excerpts from the interview, quoted Umerov as saying that the engagement was small and not well organized in terms of military mobilization.

File: In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, directs a live-fire drill in North Korea, March 7, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Umerov reportedly said he expected five North Korean units, each with about 3,000 troops, to be sent to the Kursk area. North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian soldiers and are not well known in their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying, according to the Associated Press.

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Russia reportedly has 1.3 million active troops and another 2 million in reserve. Russia is now seeing its highest death toll since the start of the war, with around 1,200 deaths reported per day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week. Despite the high number of military casualties, there is no end to the war – confirming early concerns that this could be a war of attrition.

Zelenskyy has been warning that the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia not only explains the crisis in Ukraine, but also calls into question the stability and security of Asian nations allied with the West.

“North Korea's actions are not random,” Zelenskyy said in a candid interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS on Thursday. “They have strategic goals.”

“Their actions were not accidental – they wanted the support of Russia,” he added in a statement posted on his X social media account.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, September 20, 2024. (Christoph Soeder, Pool photo via AP)

Zelenskyy called on South Korea to play a more active role in the conflict and said that South Korea has already committed to sending a team of experts to Ukraine where they will cooperate on defense capabilities, including air defense, as North Korea also supplies Russia with weapons and missiles.

“If South Korea wants to understand the true capabilities of North Korea and its military, it would be beneficial for them to be here, to see and analyze the truth firsthand,” he said. Think how close North Korea is to Seoul [25-30 miles]range of modern weapons, not even missiles.”

“Air defenses cannot withstand strikes. Our cities are destroyed by weapons. I hope South Korea will never experience this, but preparation is important,” added Zelenskyy.

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Soldiers march in a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, on September 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Zelenskyy also questioned China's “quietness” regarding the North's recent involvement in the war.

Meanwhile, North Korea reportedly fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday.

The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un directed a flight test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the US mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral test with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.