US Must Weigh ‘Direct Military Action’ If North Korean Forces Enter Ukraine: House Intelligence Chair

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) speaks during a press conference on the 2023 Fiscal Year at the U.S Capitol Building on Dec. 14, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The United States should consider “direct military action” in Ukraine if North Korean troops invade, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Oct. 23.

Turner, one of the 101 House Republicans who voted in favor of sending more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine in April, urged the Biden administration to make it clear that North Korea’s involvement in the war would be a “red line for the United States.”

“If North Korean troops were to invade Ukraine’s sovereign territory, the United States needs to seriously consider taking direct military action against the North Korean troops,” Turner said in a statement posted to X.

The congressman further argued that North Korea’s entry into the war would justify allowing Ukraine to fight back with U.S.-supplied weapons.

Ahead of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to the White House in September, it was widely anticipated that President Joe Biden might clear the way for Ukraine to strike Russian targets with Western long-range missiles, but those restrictions remained in place after the talk.

“I have long challenged the Biden–Harris Administration’s unwise position on restricting Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons against targets within Russian territory,” Turner said in his statement. “If North Korean troops attack Ukraine from Russian territory, Ukraine should be permitted to use American weapons to respond.”

John Kirby, national security spokesman at the White House, confirmed on Oct. 23 that U.S. intelligence had tracked the movement of at least 3,000 North Korean troops to Russia’s Far East between early and mid-October. He said these soldiers arrived in Vladivostok by ship and were subsequently moved to three military sites for “basic combat training and familiarization.”

“After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military,” Kirby told reporters, noting that Washington has already briefed Kyiv on the potential threat.

“If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game, they’re fair targets. The Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers.”

Kyiv is preparing as though Pyongyang joining the fight on Moscow’s behalf is inevitable.

Speaking at an Oct. 17 NATO press conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that North Korean officers and technical personnel have already been spotted in Russian-occupied territories.

“I believe they sent officers first to assess the situation before deploying troops,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

The North Korean deployment would solidify the growing alliance between the two neighboring countries, which are now bound by a NATO-like defense treaty that commits each to come to the other’s aid if attacked.

The deal was inked in June during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Pyongyang, North Korea, where he was greeted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a lavish welcoming ceremony. Two months later, Ukraine launched a cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, raising speculation that Putin may turn to Kim to help repel Ukrainian troops from the area.

Russia has already been relying on the isolated communist state to replenish its depleting weapon stocks. In January, the White House reported that North Korean-produced ballistic missiles were fired into Ukraine from Russia. The following month, the State Department revealed that North Korea had delivered more than 10,000 containers of munitions to Russia since September 2023.

In return, North Korea is receiving much-needed food and fuel assistance, while it is speculated that the Kim regime also seeks greater access to advanced Russian military technologies that would enhance its ballistic missile, space, and nuclear programs.