The United States warned that North Korea is benefiting from its troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine, gaining experience that makes Pyongyang “more capable of waging war against its neighbors.”

Camille Shea, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy, expressed such warnings, Reuters reports.

She confirmed that more than 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and last month began fighting against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region.

The American diplomat stated that this confirms the close cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

“The DPRK is significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology, and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors,” Shea shared with the 15-member council.

In her opinion, the DPRK will likely be eager to leverage these improvements to promote weapons sales and military training contracts globally.

Militarnyi has repeatedly reported losses among the North Korean military from drones, artillery, and small arms fire.

Previously, the soldiers of the 8th Regiment of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed a group of North Korean military personnel in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Russia may be close to transferring advanced satellite and space technologies to North Korea in exchange for weapons and equipment to support the war against Ukraine.

“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technologies with Pyongyang,” Blinken noted.

Nuclear technologies

He also emphasized that the Russian leader may be close to supporting the DPRK’s nuclear program. This would radically change the longstanding policy of preventing the North Korean regime from producing nuclear weapons.

Such intense cooperation between Russia and the DPRK creates new threats to regional security and calls into question the effectiveness of international sanctions aimed at limiting Pyongyang’s military ambitions.