North Korean Foreign Minister Heads to Russia as Biden Warns of ‘Dangerous’ Situation

LONDON — North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Song-hui left Pyongyang on Monday evening for an official visit to Russia, North Korean state media reported, as the United States and NATO renewed their condemnation of growing military cooperation between the two neighbors.

The Korean Central News Agency reported that Choi and her entourage took off from Pyongyang International Airport on Monday, and Moscow Ambassador to the country Alexander Matsegora was among those seeing off the delegation.

The visit “takes place within the framework of a strategic dialogue – following the agreement to strengthen ties reached by the leaders of our countries during the summit in June 2024,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The visit comes amid growing Western concern about the presence of North Korean troops in Russia ahead of their expected deployment to reinforce Moscow’s forces fighting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and western Russia.

President Joe Biden made the comments Monday after voting in Delaware’s election next week.

“This is very dangerous, very dangerous,” Biden told reporters.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters at a briefing Monday that the U.S. believes there are currently 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, down from a U.S. estimate of 3,000 given by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby last week.

The troops have been sent “for training in eastern Russia” and will “likely augment Russian forces near Ukraine within the next few weeks,” she said.

Singh said some Pyongyang troops were moving toward Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops established a foothold in August.

“Some of these soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine, and we are increasingly concerned that Russia intends to use these soldiers in combat or in support of military operations against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of Russia, near the border with Ukraine,” she said.

Singh, like Kirby and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week, called the deployment a sign of Moscow’s weakness.

“This will mean further escalation and the President emphasizes (Vladimir) “Putin’s growing desperation as Russia has suffered extraordinary losses on the battlefield, and a sign that Putin may be in more trouble than people think,” she said.

“He is playing into the hands of North Korea and Iran because he has failed to achieve these combat objectives,” Singh added, using the acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Matthew Seiler and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.