Washington is "highly concerned" about reports that North Korean soldiers have been deployed alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, although it has so far been unable to verify the claims made by South Korea and Ukraine, a U.S. spokesman said.
"We are highly concerned by reports of [North Korean] soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia," National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said on October 19.
SEE ALSO: Russia Pressures Central Asian Prisoners To Fight In Ukraine As 'Expendable Force'"We are unable to confirm whether these reports are accurate, but if true, this would mark a dangerous development in Russia’s war against Ukraine," he added.
Savett said that such a move would "indicate Russia's growing desperation" as it suffers "extraordinary casualties on the battlefield in its brutal war against Ukraine."
"If Russia is indeed forced to turn to [North Korea] for manpower, this would be a sign of desperation, not strength, on the part of the Kremlin," Savett said.
Russia has suffered massive losses since its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- which many in the Kremlin reportedly expected to last just a few days. U.S. government sources say that Russia has been suffering more than 1,200 casualties a day in recent months.
South Korea on October 18 claimed that Pyongyang began moving special forces to Russia earlier this month, days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a similar accusation that North Korea had sent soldiers and weapons to help support the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine.
"The North Korean soldiers dispatched to Russia are currently stationed at Russian military bases in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriisk, Khabarovsk, and Blagoveshchensk, and are expected to be deployed to the front lines as soon as they complete their adaptation training," South Korea's National Intelligence Service said.
SEE ALSO: Serbian Mercenary: Russia's War In Ukraine Built On Lies And DeathUkraine's Center For Strategic Communications on October 18 posted a video of what it said were North Korean troops being outfitted at Russia's Sergiyevsky training ground in preparation for deployment to Ukraine.
The video could not immediately be independently verified.
The Kremlin has previously dismissed claims by South Korea that Pyongyang has supplied artillery shells and short-range missiles to Moscow.
But it has not commented on the latest assertions by either Seoul or Zelenskiy, who on October 14 said that "this is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about transferring people from North Korea to the occupying military forces."
NATO chief Mark Rutte, speaking in Brussels on October 18, said the military alliance could not confirm the reports that North Korean troops were "actively engaged" in the conflict in Ukraine.