The United States said Thursday that up to 8,000 North Korean troops had reached Russia’s border region with Ukraine, trained and ready for combat, as Pyongyang’s firing of a long-range missile exacerbated tensions a few days before the American elections.

Seeking to profit from his brutal invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin brought in troops and military equipment from North Korea, the first time Russia has invited foreign forces to its soil in more than a century .

Citing U.S. intelligence, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some 8,000 of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed to be in Russia have headed toward the Kursk border region.

“We have not yet seen these troops deploy to fight against Ukrainian forces, but we expect that to happen in the coming days,” Blinken said at a news conference after four-way negotiations with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and the South Korean diplomat. defense ministers.

Russia has trained North Korean troops in handling artillery and drones and cleaning trenches, “indicating that it fully intends to use these forces in front-line operations,” he said. Blinken said.

Austin said the deployment of North Korean troops, who he said were wearing Russian uniforms, “just underlines how bad Putin’s war has gone.”

“Those 10,000 people will come nowhere close to replacing the numbers lost by the Russians,” Austin said.

He warned: “Make no mistake, if these North Korean troops engage in combat or combat support operations against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets. »

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North Korea, which is in dire need of cash, is also believed to have sent more than 1,000 missiles to Russia as well as millions of pieces of munitions, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said.

– Advancement on missile technology –

South Korea, which previously said the North was preparing a missile or even a nuclear test ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. election, said Pyongyang appeared to have fired a long-range, solid-propelled ballistic missile that traveled 1,000 kilometers (1,000 miles). 621 miles).

Developing advanced solid-fuel missiles, faster to launch and harder to detect and destroy in advance, has long been a goal of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim called the sanctions-defying launch “an appropriate military action that fully meets the goal of informing rivals…of our willingness to retaliate,” according to the official Korean News Agency.

Japan said the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flew longer than any other missile tested by the North, staying in the air for about 86 minutes and reaching altitudes of 7,000 kilometers.

The missile could theoretically strike the American continent, although Washington said there was no risk linked to the test firing.

Blinken and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts discussed the launch in a joint phone call, later issuing a statement urging North Korea to stop its “provocative and destabilizing actions.”

China, North Korea’s closest historical ally, said it was “concerned by the developments” and called for a “political resolution” of the problem.

Blinken said the United States recently had an “intense” conversation with China about American concerns about North Korea.

– Ukrainian indignation –

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to South Korean media, denounced what he called his allies’ inaction towards North Korean troops and said he was surprised by the “silence” of China.

“I think the reaction to this is zero; it’s been zero,” Zelensky said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, during a visit to Canada, called North Korean troops “a real escalation of this war” and urged Western partners in response to “lift all restrictions” on the shooting long-range missiles on Russia.

Austin later said the United States would soon announce new military support for Ukraine. South Korea, for its part, is considering whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine, breaking with its long-standing policy prohibiting sending weapons into active conflicts.

North Korea’s missile launch “appears to have been carried out to divert attention from international criticism of its troop deployment,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Austin said there was no evidence that Russia provided the technology for the ICBM.

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who heads the Global Institute for North Korea Studies, said the test was also intended to attract “world attention ahead of the U.S. presidential election.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday accused Kim and Putin of “supporting” his rival Donald Trump because he is “easy to manipulate through flattery and favor.”

Trump met with the long-isolated Kim three times, an unusually personal style of diplomacy that reduced tensions but failed to produce a lasting agreement.

North Korea has denied sending troops to Russia, but in the first comment published last week in state media, its vice foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to take place, it would be in accordance with the law. international.