The Russian presidency (Kremlin) once again avoided today the issue of the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia, denounced by Ukraine, the United States and South Korea, referring the matter to the Ministry of Defence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured on Thursday that North Korean soldiers were fighting in the Russian region of Kursk, part of which is occupied by Ukrainian forces, and had suffered casualties.
When asked about these statements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred the matter to the Ministry of Defence, which, as a matter of principle, never responds to requests from Western journalists, according to the French agency AFP.
"This is a question directly linked to the conduct of the special military operation [in Ukraine], which should therefore be put to the Ministry of Defence," Peskov replied, without denying that the deployment of North Korean troops would constitute an international escalation of the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he would not rule out the possibility of holding joint military exercises with North Korea.
"We will see, we can organise exercises. Why not?" Putin said in a speech at the Valdai Club in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi.
Russia and North Korea recently signed a mutual defence treaty that provides for reciprocal "immediate military assistance" in the event of an attack on either country by the other state.
The two countries have grown considerably closer since the start of Russia's offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
North Korea is accused by Kiev and its Western allies of supplying Russia with large quantities of shells and missiles.
Ukraine launched an offensive on Russian territory in August, occupying part of the Kursk region, near the border between the two countries.
South Korea considers the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia to be a threat to its security.
Seoul has warned that Moscow could transfer military technology, including nuclear weapons, to North Korea in exchange for troops, enabling the North to modernize its armed forces.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol this week called for action against "illegal military cooperation" between North Korea and Russia, which he said poses a threat to South Korea's security.
North Korea and Russia have not explicitly confirmed the North Korean deployment, but have argued that their military cooperation complies with international law.
If they fight Ukrainian forces, it would be North Korea's first involvement in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which divided the East Asian peninsula.
