North Korean military personnel are already in Kursk region and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and their participation in combat clashes with the Armed Forces of Ukraine is expected in the coming days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"According to our information, there are North Korean troops or representatives of the North Korean army in Kursk region who are preparing for military action against Ukraine, and also, according to our information, they are already in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in an interview with the South Korean TV channel KBS.

According to him, there have been no clashes with Ukrainian troops yet. "No, not yet. There will be. It's a matter of days, not months," the president added.

Today, the Ukrainian side knows that three thousand North Korean soldiers are already in the training camp, and that the number will be increased in the near future to 12,000 soldiers and officers. "We also know that an agreement is being prepared on the supply of engineering troops, as well as civilians, a large number of civilians from North Korea, so that they work at certain military factories of the Russian Federation," Zelenskyy added.

He also noted that the Russian Federation interprets the occupied territories of Ukraine as Russian ones, and therefore misleads the international community by stating that there is no North Korean contingent on Ukrainian territory. "Therefore, there may be confusion in the media, because Russia says that North Korea is on Russian territory, and we tell you and all the countries of the world, including, by the way, South Korea, which recognize our territorial integrity, that they are on Ukrainian territory, on the temporarily occupied part," said the head of the Ukrainian state.

At the same time, Zelenskyy believes that, as in the case of the occupation of Crimea in 2014, the West and Ukraine’s partners will not take any decisive action after the North Korean contingent enters the war against Ukraine.

"The same with the North Korean contingent - Putin is checking the reaction of the West, Putin is checking the reaction of NATO countries, Putin is checking the reaction of South Korea. And I believe that after all these reactions, Putin will decide and increase the contingent ... He is checking, but what will happen if such a contingent is used? And if nothing happens - and I believe that the reaction that is happening today is nothing, it is zero - then the number of the country's [North Korea's] troops on our soil will be increased," the Ukrainian president said.

According to him, "these people will certainly die" and the Russians will send North Korean soldiers ahead, not their own, since Vladimir Putin is very afraid of mobilization in the Russian Federation.

"I think that for the leader of North Korea this is also very beneficial, I will tell you frankly. The North Korean military has no combat experience, no combat experience of modern warfare ... And that means that the North Korean military will gain practice in this war, understanding what a land war is ... North Korea will work in military factories, I think, including the corresponding drone factories, and will gain experience," Zelenskyy explained.

He also expressed belief that South Korea should join forces with Japan and China to prevent North Korea from dragging East Asia into war and expressed surprise at China's lack of reaction to sending North Korean troops to the war with Ukraine. "North Korea is now dragging your entire region into war. That is what they are doing. They are doing this not by chance, but in order to then receive the same from Russia in their direction, the same support and assistance," Zelenskyy said.