The deployment of some 10,000 North Korean troops to Russia¡¯s Kursk region poses no major military threat to Ukrainian forces there but marks a ¡°dangerous development¡± as Pyongyang is using its new security alliance with Moscow to gain access to critical new technologies and modern warfare tactics, Kyiv¡¯s envoy to Japan has warned.

Speaking in Tokyo on Tuesday 1,000 days after Moscow¡¯s invasion of his country, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky said that while North Korea¡¯s provision to Russia of military equipment and troops is certainly worrisome, what¡¯s ¡°really a serious problem¡± is what Moscow is giving Pyongyang in return ¡ª a development, he said, that could also have direct security implications for East Asia.

¡°We have quite credible information that it¡¯s not just rice or money but it¡¯s about military technologies,¡± particularly those that enable Pyongyang to move forward with their missile program, the diplomat said, claiming that North Korea¡¯s Oct. 31 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile ¡ª which has the longest flight time yet ¨C was ¡°a direct result of this kind of cooperation.¡±