US, South Korea call for North Korea to withdraw troops from Russia

With boots on the ground alongside the supply of munitions, the DPRK has become the most visible, ardent, and committed supporter of Russia's aggression in Europe,

Hwang said on Wednesday

As legitimate military targets, they will end up as mere cannon fodder, while the wages they are supposed to receive from Russia will end up squarely in Kim Jong-un's pocket,

Hwang said of the Russia-bound North Korean troops

Pyongyang's treatment of its young soldiers, its own people, as expendable will be never forgiven,

he added

Sergiy Kyslytsyaambassador

According to available information, between October 23 and 28, at least seven aircraft carrying military personnel of up to 2,100 soldiers flew from the Eastern Military District to Russia's border with Ukraine,

Kyslytsya said

If Russia's sovereignty and security interests are exposed to and threatened by continued dangerous attempts of the United States and the West, and if it is judged that we should respond to them with something, we will make a necessary decision,

Ambassador Kim Song told the council

Vasily Nebenzyaambassador

We can see the Western spectacle in the Security Council today pursuing another goal. The Zelenskyy regime and collaborators for two years have been trying to compel the Republic of Korea [South Korea] to more actively cooperate with the Kyiv regime, and to have them provide and supply the much-needed lethal weapons. And here, the anti-Pyongyang frenzied rhetoric is very convenient for Washington, London and Brussels, because their own supply is something that the Kyiv regime has drained,

Nebenzia said

Lloyd Austinu.S. Defense Secretary

They're doing this because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has lost a lot of troops, a lot of troops. And, you know, he has a choice of either getting other people to help him, or he can mobilize. And he doesn't want to mobilize, because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of his losses, of their losses,

Austin said during a joint news conference at the Pentagon

Sergiy Kyslytsyaambassador

This contingent includes at least 500 officers of the DPRK army, with at least three generals from the general staff,

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said, using the abbreviation for North Korea's full name

Kim Jong Un didn't hesitate to sell out his young people and troops as cannon fodder mercenaries,

Kim said

The two leaders also strongly condemned in the strongest terms with one voice that the military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK has expanded beyond transfers of military supplies to actual deployment of forces, and pledged to closely coordinate with the international community regarding this issue,

the SCM joint communique read

(The ... They) urged the DPRK to immediately cease such activities,

the communique said

Both sides noted that the Northern Limit Line has been an effective means of separating military forces and preventing military tension over the past 70 years,

the statement said

Both leaders decided to continue strengthening combined exercises and training in line with the rapidly changing security environment of the Korean Peninsula, and further decided that future combined exercises should include appropriate and realistic scenarios, including responses to DPRK nuclear use,

the statement said

Lloyd Austinu.S. Defense Secretary

I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia,

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon, echoing a call by his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun, who stood beside him

At the current moment, nothing is determined,

Kim said when asked if there are plans for South Korea to indirectly supply munitions to Ukraine

I would advise Chairman Kim to think twice about engaging in such reckless and dangerous behavior,

Wood added

Our military has heightened its alert level and is closely sharing information regarding North Korea's ballistic missile with the US and Japan authorities, maintaining a thorough readiness posture,

Seoul's JCS added

Our military detected one ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea at approximately 7:10 AM (2210 GMT) today,

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan

There is a high chance that they would, in exchange for their deployment, North Korea is very likely to ask for technology transfers in diverse areas,

Kim said, listing tactical nuclear weaponry, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine technology

I’ve tried to contribute as much as possible to strengthening relations between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

Kushnirenko said, using the official name for North Korea