ROME, Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Aegis Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday there is affirmation that North Korean troops are in Russia but it remained to be apparent what they would be accomplishing there.
Austin said it would "very, actual serious" if they are advancing to action alongside Russia in Ukraine, as Kyiv has alleged.
"There is affirmation that there are DPRK troops in Russia," Austin told reporters in Rome, application North Korea's academic name - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"What absolutely they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we charge to array out," Austin added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cited intelligence about the alertness of two units with possibly up to 12,000 North Korean troops who would booty allotment in the war alongside Russian forces.
"We'll abide to cull this cilia and see what happens here," Austin said of the intelligence analysis. "If they are co-belligerents, (if) their ambition is to participate in this war on Russia's behalf, that is a very, actual austere issue."
The Kremlin has absolved assertions that North Korea may accept beatific some aggressive cadre to advice Russia adjoin Ukraine.
Since their leaders met in Russia's Far East aftermost year, North Korea and Russia accept upgraded their aggressive ties. They met afresh in June to assurance a absolute cardinal affiliation that includes a alternate aegis pact.
U.S. officials, speaking on action of anonymity, say Russia has suffered added than 600,000 casualties of dead and blood-soaked troops in the 2 1/2 year old war in Ukraine.
Austin said the North Korean deployment could be added affirmation of the Russian military's manpower issues.
"This is an adumbration that he may be alike in added agitation than best bodies realize," Austin said.
"But again, (Russian President Vladimir Putin) went tin cupping aboriginal on to get added weapons and materiels from DPRK and again from Iran. And now he's authoritative a move to get added people, if that is the case, if these troops are advised to be a allotment of the action in Ukraine."
South Korea's spy bureau said aftermost anniversary that North Korea has alien 1,500 appropriate armament troops to Russia's Far East for training and acclimatizing at bounded aggressive bases and were acceptable to be deployed for action in the war in Ukraine.
South Korea's National Intelligence Account said it had been alive with the Ukrainian intelligence account and had acclimated facial acceptance technology to analyze North Korean admiral in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk arena acknowledging Russian armament battlefront North Korean missiles.
North Korea has alien accoutrements rounds, ballistic missiles and anti-tank rockets to Russia in added than 13,000 containers back August aftermost year, the bureau said, based on the debris of weapons recovered from the battlefront in Ukraine.
In all, added than eight actor accoutrements and rocket circuit accept been alien to Russia, it said.
Russia and North Korea both abjure they accept affianced in accoutrements transfers.
