N Korean minister leaves for Russia amid troop dispatch

North Korea's foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, has left Pyongyang to visit Russia, state media KCNA reported, amid concerns about the two countries' growing co-operation over Russia's war in Ukraine.

KCNA said a delegation led by Choe left on Monday for an official visit to Russia, without elaborating.

Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang, Alexander Matsegora, saw off Choe at the airport, the Russian embassy said in a statement posted on the embassy's Vkontakte social media page.

"The visit of the head of the DPRK Foreign Ministry to the Russian Federation is taking place within the framework of a strategic dialogue - following an agreement to enhance ties reached by the leaders of our countries during the June 2024 summit," the statement said.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Choe's visit comes as NATO joined Seoul, Washington and Kyiv in confirming Pyongyang's dispatch of troops to Russia, saying North Korean military units had been deployed to Russia's Kursk region near the Ukraine border.

The Pentagon said North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to eastern Russia for training, up from its estimate of 3000 last Wednesday, adding Washington will not impose new limits on Ukraine's use of American weapons if North Korea enters the fight.

US President Joe Biden called the situation "very dangerous."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, after a meeting on Monday with a South Korean delegation, said the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang posed a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security.

Rutte also confirmed the deployment of North Korean soldiers to fight on the Russian side in Kursk, a region seized by Ukraine. Evidence of the soldiers' presence in Russia has been building over the past few weeks.

The deployment is a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "growing desperation," Rutte said, adding that Putin is "unable to sustain his assault in Ukraine without foreign support."

Rutte called on democracies to uphold their shared values and support Ukraine.

"NATO allies will continue to support a free and democratic Ukraine, because Ukraine's security is our security," he said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines of the war in Ukraine may come sooner than expected.

with DPA