N. & S. Korea Poised To Enter Ukrainian Conflict As War Expands

Thousands of North Korean troops have been spotted in eastern Russia and may soon enter the war against Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Thursday. "We should be concerned," Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) urged on "Washington Watch" Thursday. "It just shows how this war is expanding. For students of history ... World War I started in Serbia -- very localized -- and, pretty soon, actor after actor was getting involved."

The first North Korean troops entered Russia quietly between October 8 and 13. At their port of arrival, they received Russian uniforms, weapons, and fake IDs, before being shipped across the world's largest country, according to South Korean intelligence.

Austin shared the latest American and South Korean assessment that at least 10,000 North Koreans are training in eastern Russia, including 8,000 in the Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian forces have maintained a counterattack into Russian territory. "We've not yet seen these soldiers deploy into combat against Ukraine's forces," said Austin, "but we expect that these North Korean soldiers will join the fight against Ukraine in the coming days."

"I have two main concerns," said Waltz. "One, obviously, is the 70 or 80 years worth of ammunition and stores that the North Koreans can provide [to Russia] -- now they're providing soldiers on top of it." Second, "the South Koreans are now saying, 'Well, if they're getting involved, we have to get involved.' And you can see how this thing could continue to spiral."

As to the military value of the North Korean soldiers, "between the translation issues, the training disparities, and other issues, I don't know that they're going to have a huge impact, except that this has just become a grind," observed Waltz. "Unfortunately for them, I do think they will be used largely as cannon fodder. We found, just in our engagements on the Korean Peninsula, they're often malnourished ... though very, very tough. They haven't enjoyed a lot of luxuries in life, and they will follow orders."

"Could this also be an indication of Putin's growing desperation," asked Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, "that he's desperate for more bodies to put on the battlefield?"

"It could be an indication," answered Waltz. "What he's desperate to avoid is tapping into the middle class of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Those are his two power nodes and the two economic centers of gravity in Russia."

"The cannon fodder of troops he's been feeding in have literally been from emptying his prisons and pulling from the outlying areas like in Chechnya and [Siberia]," Waltz explained. "He'll continue that methodology with now leveraging North Korean troops and feeding them into this -- what's turned into -- a meat grinder."

"This has become a war of attrition," repeated Waltz. "North Korea has been preparing for war its entire existence. And it has a lot of artillery, a lot of ammunition, a lot of troops that it's willing to expend."

This is not only Ukraine's problem, but America's too, because of our financial contributions to the conflict, implied Waltz. "If Kim Jong Un demonstrates an ability to keep feeding Russia soldiers, and weapons, and ammunition, what does that mean on the other side? We keep pumping billions and billions of dollars in," he said. "What is the strategy here? What is success, in line with our interests?"

"The thing that's so frustrating to me is that we could solve this issue through energy," Waltz declared. "Russia is a gas station with nukes. If we flood the global markets with our oil and gas, you drive down the price of oil, you dry up Putin's war machine, and he literally can't afford to perpetuate this war. And that goes for Iran as well. ... That ... is the strategic approach we should be taking, rather than matching dollar for dollar, bullet for bullet, or troop for troop."

"Instead," he continued, "Biden and Harris have gone to war on our energy supplies -- Keystone XL, the LNG ban -- so that the rest of the world is buying from the likes of Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. It is insane." More than that, Waltz went on, "We want the Europeans and the rest of the world buying from us. And instead right now, because we've constrained our supplies, the Europeans are literally buying still from Russia. It's really completely backward."

Waltz faulted the Biden-Harris administration for "the progressive mindset, that they've never seen a problem they don't just want to throw more money at. We're throwing money at Ukraine to combat ... the Russians there, and now the North Koreans. We're throwing money at the Red Sea and in the Middle East to combat the Iranians."

"You're saying, if we just put some of our effort into revitalizing our own energy production, we could drive down their prices. We wouldn't have to spend as much money in Ukraine to counter Russia, and we would grow our own economy and create more jobs here domestically," Perkins responded.

As it is, the Biden-Harris administration has allowed U.S. adversaries to recover, and even cooperate together. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Thursday that his nation will sign "a comprehensive strategic partnership" with Iran that will include "closer cooperation in the field of defense." Russia has already sent air defense systems to Iran, which aim to deter Israeli jets. Meanwhile, Iran has supplied Russia's war in Ukraine with military drones.

Now North Korean troops fighting for Russia in Ukraine suggest yet another level of cooperation, suggested Waltz. "What are they getting in return [for sending troops], in terms of technology cooperation from the Russians, help with their nuclear program, help with their submarines?" he asked.

"With Russia being flush with cash, having the ability to bolster the North Korean economy, I'm sure that some of what is being traded off is food supplies that they need to keep their people moving," suggested Perkins. "That counteracts the sanctions that have been placed on them in many cases, to try to strangle their nuclear program."

Speaking of its nuclear program, North Korea on Thursday successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that flew for 86 minutes before landing in the ocean. "The -- air quotes here -- 'strategic patience' that Obama embarked on, and that Biden's continued, basically means North Korea is developing a massive nuclear arsenal that can threaten the entire world, with a madman with his finger on the button," warned Waltz. "That should concern all of us."

"People say the warming climate is the number one most dangerous threat to the world," Waltz continued. "How about a very real possibility of some type of nuclear exchange? That's the real threat we've got to be focused on."

However, Waltz also said U.S. foreign policy must keep the North Korean and Russian threats in perspective. The most formidable challenger to American hegemony is China, he said, who benefits every time the U.S. is distracted by other less significant adversaries. "China is getting gas on the cheap from both Russia and Iran. They are embarking on a massive build-up. They're fueling the Iranian war machine and the Russian war machine," he said. "Meanwhile, we're literally moving our ships out of the Pacific to deal with the issues in the Middle East."

In light of the growing threat from China, he said, the U.S. needs to resolve the conflict in Ukraine so that we can turn our attention to Asia. "President Trump has made clear he will be focused on ending the war," Waltz added. "If only we would enforce the sanctions, use our economic power, and use what President Trump says is the liquid gold underneath our feet right here in the United States of America, we could solve a lot of these problems."

Originally published at The Washington Stand