North Korea foreign minister heads to Russia as Biden warns of 'dangerous' situation

The Pentagon said location are now 10,000 North Korean troops successful Russia.

LONDON -- North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui near Pyongyang connected Monday nighttime for an charismatic sojourn to Russia, North Korean state-controlled media reported, arsenic nan U.S. and NATO again denounced increasing subject practice betwixt nan 2 neighbors.

The Korean Central News Agency said Choe and her entourage departed Pyongyang International Airport connected Monday, pinch Moscow's ambassador to nan state Alexander Matsegora among those who saw nan delegation off.

The sojourn "is taking spot wrong nan model of a strategical speech -- pursuing an statement to heighten ties reached by nan leaders of our countries during nan June 2024 summit," a overseas ministry connection said.

The sojourn comes arsenic Western concerns turn astir nan beingness of North Korea troops successful Russia up of their expected deployment to reenforce Moscow's troops fighting Ukrainian forces successful eastbound Ukraine and occidental Russia.

In this photograph provided by nan North Korean government, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (C) prepares to depart for Russia from Pyongyang, North Korea, connected Oct. 28, 2024.

Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

President Joe Biden connected Monday commented connected nan business aft casting his ballot for adjacent week's elections successful Delaware.

"It's very dangerous, very dangerous," Biden told reporters.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters astatine a Monday briefing that nan U.S. believes location are now 10,000 North Korean troops successful Russia, up from nan American estimate of 3,000 fixed by National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby past week.

The troops person been sent "to train successful eastbound Russia" and "will astir apt augment Russian forces adjacent Ukraine complete nan adjacent respective weeks," she said.

Singh said immoderate of Pyongyang's troops are moving towards Russia's occidental Kursk region, wherever Ukrainian forces established a foothold successful August.

"A information of those soldiers person already moved person to Ukraine, and we are progressively concerned that Russia intends to usage these soldiers successful combat aliases to support combat operations against Ukrainian forces successful Russia's Kursk Oblast, adjacent nan separator pinch Ukraine," she said.

Singh -- for illustration Kirby and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin past week -- framed nan deployment arsenic a motion of Moscow's weakness.

Members of nan Korean Vietnam War Veterans Association activity nationalist flags during a rally against a caller deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, successful Seoul, South Korea, connected Oct. 28, 2024.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

"This would people a further escalation and highlights President [Vladimir] Putin's expanding desperation, arsenic Russia has suffered bonzer casualties connected nan battlefield, and an denotation that Putin whitethorn beryllium successful much problem than group realize," she said.

"He's tin-cupping to nan DPRK, Iran, because he has grounded to meet those battlefield objectives," Singh added, utilizing nan acronym of nan country's charismatic sanction -- nan Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

ABC News' Ellie Kaufman, Matthew Seyler and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.