North Korea's foreign minister visits Russia as its troops train for battle in Ukraine

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Tuesday that its top diplomat is visiting Russia, another sign of its deepening ties as rival South Korea and Western nations say the North has sent thousands of troops to fight Russia's war in Ukraine to support.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said a delegation led by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui left for Russia on Monday, but did not specify the purpose of the visit. In a closed-door hearing in South Korea's parliament, South Korea's spy service said Choe may be involved in high-level discussions about sending additional troops to Russia and negotiating what the North would get in return, according to Lee Seong-kweun Legislators who attended the meeting.

The announcement of Choe's visit came hours after the Pentagon said North Korea had sent about 10,000 troops to Russia, who are expected to arrive on the battlefields in Ukraine within “the next few weeks.”

READ MORE: North Korea has sent around 10,000 soldiers to Russia to fight in Ukraine, according to the Pentagon

South Korean and Western leaders have expressed concerns that North Korea's involvement could help prolong Russia's aggression in Ukraine and that Russia could offer technology in return that could increase the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday that some of the North Korean soldiers had already moved closer to Ukraine and were believed to be on their way to the border region of Kursk, where Russia is struggling to repel a Ukrainian invasion.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers it was examining the possibility that some groups of North Korean military personnel in Russia, including generals or other senior officials, had already moved to frontline areas. The spy service also said the two sides appeared to be having difficulty resolving communication problems, although the Russian military is training North Korean troops in Russian military terminology, Lee said.

The agency said space-based reconnaissance is an area where North Korea is likely to receive Russian help. It said North Korea may be acquiring advanced components from Russia as it prepares to launch another military reconnaissance satellite after a failed attempt in May, said Park Sun-won, another lawmaker who attended the hearing.

North Korea put a spy satellite into orbit for the first time last November. Its leader Kim Jong Un has described these assets as crucial to monitoring South Korean and American military activities and amplifying the threat from its nuclear-capable missiles.

In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia could pose a “major security threat” to Seoul as the North gains access to Russian technology and its troops gain combat experience .

The leaders confirmed plans to exchange government delegations as part of efforts to strengthen communications and coordinate their responses to the conflict, Yoon's office said.

In previous talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Yoon called for closer coordination with European governments to “monitor and block illegal exchanges” between Pyongyang and Moscow.

After initially denying claims of North Korean troops being stationed, Pyongyang and Moscow have now taken a more vague stance, claiming that their military cooperation is consistent with international law without directly acknowledging the presence of North Korean forces in Russia.

North Korea has also been accused of supplying Russia with millions of artillery shells and other military equipment to fuel its war in Ukraine. The United States and its partners have called Russia's procurement of North Korean personnel and aid a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and expressed suspicion that Moscow is helping Pyongyang evade sanctions and improperly finance its weapons program.

Russia, along with China, has blocked U.S.-led efforts in the Security Council to tighten sanctions on North Korea over its recent missile testing activities, which intensified after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia also vetoed a UN resolution extending the mandate. In March, an observer panel was set up, effectively eliminating UN expert oversight of Security Council sanctions against North Korea. This sparked accusations in the West that Moscow wanted to shield its arms purchases from Pyongyang.

“The illegal military collusion between Russia and North Korea represents a significant security threat to the international community and a serious matter that could potentially harm our security. “We must thoroughly examine all options and prepare countermeasures,” Yoon said at a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on Tuesday.

Yoon raised the possibility of arms supplies to Ukraine last week and said Seoul was preparing countermeasures that could be introduced gradually depending on the level of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

South Korea, a growing arms exporter, has provided humanitarian aid and other non-lethal support to Ukraine and joined U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. It has so far resisted calls from Kiev and NATO to supply weapons directly to Ukraine, citing its long-standing policy of not supplying weapons to countries in active conflict.