• North Korean troops came under fire after joining the Russian war, Ukrainian officials said.

• Ukraine's defense minister said it was a small clash involving soldiers and Russians.

• The Pentagon says North Korean troops in combat would make them a fair target in the war.

According to Ukrainian officials, military operations by North Korean troops are already taking place in Russia's Kursk region.

“The first North Korean troops have already come under fire in Kursk Oblast,” Andrii Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Combating Disinformation, said on Telegram on Monday, according to translation by The New Voice of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed the report in an interview with South Korea's national broadcaster KBS on Tuesday.

He said it was a small clash with North Korean soldiers mixing with Russian troops.

The battle means that North Korea has officially joined the war, Umerow told the medium.

An unnamed senior Ukrainian intelligence official also confirmed the report to the Financial Times on Monday, but declined to provide further details.

Ukrainian troops have held large areas of Kursk since early August after Kiev launched a surprise cross-border offensive in the region.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 8,000 North Korean troops had been moved to Kursk and he predicted they would join the fighting shortly.

“We have not yet seen these troops deployed in combat against Ukrainian forces, but we expect this to happen in the coming days,” he said.

At the same news conference, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that if North Korean troops took part in fighting or provided combat support, they would become “legitimate military targets.”

Kovalenko's statement on Monday was the first to claim that North Korean troops were now actively fighting alongside Russian troops and against Ukraine.

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday that the U.S. was “reviewing” the reports.

Last month, South Korean intelligence said 1,500 North Korean soldiers had been sent to Russia for training and likely deployment in the war.

This came after deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Saturday, Ukrainian intelligence shared details of the military equipment Russia allegedly issued to North Korean troops, including mortars, rifles and machine guns.

According to North Korea experts, the partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang is beneficial for both sides: While Russia receives urgently needed troops, Kim Jong Un is likely to receive an economic boost for his country as well as military know-how through dealings with Russia.

Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Defense Intelligence Agency of Ukraine did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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