North Korean general wounded in Ukrainian strike

The Telegraph: A high-ranking general has become the first senior North Korean military figure to be wounded fighting for Russia against Ukraine, Western officials have said.

The general was said to have been injured in a Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian border region of Kursk, where thousands of Pyongyang’s troops have been deployed to help repel Ukraine’s offensive launched in August.

The official, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, did not disclose his identity or how exactly he was wounded.

Ukraine launched at least 10 British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at a military facility in Kursk on Wednesday.

The target was a former country estate, the cellars of which were being used by the Russian military as a command centre, where senior North Korean officials may have been stationed.

A Ukrainian soldier in Kursk, Russia - FUTURE

Washington has accused North Korea of sending more than 10,000 troops to Russia and last month warned they would be a legitimate military target by Ukrainian forces.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday night that he expects North Korean troops massing in Russia to “soon” enter combat against Ukraine.

In exchange for the troops and a steady stream of artillery shells, Vladimir Putin is said to have given Kim Jong-un a million barrels of oil as well as anti-air missiles.

Satellite imagery, shared by the Britain-based Open Source Centre with the BBC, appeared to prove that the Kremlin is breaking international sanctions sending huge quantities of oil to North Korea.

On Friday, Shin Won-sik, Seoul’s security chief said: “It has been identified that equipment and anti-aircraft missiles aimed at reinforcing Pyongyang’s vulnerable air defence system have been delivered to North Korea.”

Following the news of the wounded North Korean general, Kim accused the US of increasing tension, saying the Korean peninsula has never faced a greater risk of nuclear war.

North Korean troops training in Russia ahead of their deployment to fight Ukraine - PARA PAX

In a speech at a military exhibition in Pyongyang, the dictator criticised Washington for its “unchangeable aggressive and hostile” policy towards North Korea.

“Never before have the warring parties on the Korean peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that it could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” he said, according to the KCNA state news agency.

Kim also hinted that he would be reluctant to sit down with Donald Trump, despite the president-elect previously touting the pair’s close ties.

“We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States,” he said, adding that North Korea’s only guarantee of security was to bolster its nuclear-armed military.

Kim was speaking at a defence exhibition in Pyongyang, where he showed off a range of strategic and tactical weapons including supposed intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles and drones.