Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says North Korea has deployed troops to Russia

Rome (CNN) — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said North Korea has deployed troops to Russia, the first senior US official to confirm the development on the record, as North Korea and Russia have forged increasingly friendly ties since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are seeing evidence that that there are North Korean troops that have gone to Russia,” Austin told reporters traveling with him in Rome on Wednesday. “What, exactly, they’re doing is left to be seen.”

Thousands of North Korean troops have recently arrived in Eastern Russia and are being currently trained – but the US does not yet know what their exact mission will be, according to a senior administration official.

But, if Russian President Vladimir Putin is training North Korean soldiers and preparing to send them in to fight Ukraine, that would be a sign of serious desperation on Russia’s part, the official told CNN.

In Rome, Austin said Putin “may be even in more trouble than most people realize.”

The US does not believe the North Korean troops have reached Ukraine, but the movements have generated deep concern at a potentially serious escalation in the conflict.

Austin said the US is still trying to determine what role the North Koreans will play in the conflict and whether they intend to travel to Ukraine.

“If they’re a co-belligerent, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only on in Europe — It will also impact things in the Indo Pacific as well,” Austin said.

Asked what North Korea will get in return for helping Russia with manpower, Austin said the US is still trying to determine that as well.

In recent months, Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened their anti-United States military partnership and the growing alliance has concerned officials in Kyiv and Washington.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly warned that North Korean troops are joining the war on Russia’s behalf, telling a NATO summit last week that “10,000” soldiers and technical personnel were being prepared.

A source in Ukrainian intelligence previously told CNN that a small number of North Koreans have been working with the Russian military, mostly to help with engineering and to exchange information on the use of North Korean ammunition.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said Friday that North Korea has shipped 1,500 soldiers, including special forces fighters, to Russia for training.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak and MJ Lee contributed to this report.

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