North Korea's foreign minister leaves for Russia amid troop dispatch

Seoul: North Korea's foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, has left Pyongyang to visit Russia, state media KCNA said on Tuesday, amid concerns about the two countries' growing cooperation over Russia's war in Ukraine.

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

Her 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 3,000 last Wednesday, adding Washington will not impose new limits on Ukraine's use of American weapons if North Korea enters the fight.

U.S. 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.

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.