U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday (October 29) Ukraine should strike back if North Korean troops crossed into Ukraine, adding he was concerned by the presence of North Korean troops in the Kursk region in Russia, Reuters reports.
"I am concerned about it," Biden said when asked about North Korean troops being present in Russia.
"If they cross into Ukraine, yes," Biden said when asked if the Ukrainians should strike back.
NATO said on Monday thousands of North Korean troops were moving toward the front line, a development which has prompted Kyiv to call for more weapons and an international plan to keep those troops at bay.
The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that some North Korean soldiers are in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August and hold hundreds of square kilometers of territory. A couple of thousand more are heading there, it said.
"We remain concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Kursk," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters, adding he could not corroborate reports that North Korean troops were in Ukraine itself.
Kursk is a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a surprise incursion in August and hold hundreds of square kilometers of territory.
