White House National Security Council Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Wednesday that there are 3,000 North Korean soldiers currently undergoing training at Russian military bases.

He added during a press conference in Washington, D.C., that Russia's resort to North Korea is "an indicator of weakness, not strength," noting, "We do not know yet whether Putin will deploy North Korean soldiers in Ukraine."

The Korean soldiers arrived in Russia by sea this October, to be distributed to military bases across the country for training, according to Kirby.

The American official confirmed that “Russia suffers about 1,200 deaths and injuries every day in Ukraine.”

Also, on Wednesday, NATO and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that they possess evidence of the presence of these thousands of soldiers.

Austin said in a video published by American media, “We have evidence that North Korean forces headed to (...) Russia,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

He added, "What exactly are you doing? We will see... If they intend to participate in the war in the name of Russia, this is a very serious matter."

A NATO spokeswoman said that NATO countries “confirmed the existence of evidence of the deployment of North Korean forces in Russia.”

She added, "If these forces were to fight in Ukraine, this would represent a significant escalation in North Korea's support for Russia's illegal war."

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova refused to confirm or deny the Western accusations, referring journalists inquiring about the matter to Pyongyang.

An undated satellite image from Maxar Technologies of what the National Intelligence Service issued on October 18, 2024, said was the Russian ship Angara, loaded with North Korean weapons, leaving the port of Rajin in the North Korean city of Rason.

The President of Ukraine demands an international response to North Korea's intervention in the war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called for strong reactions from countries that acknowledged North Korea's greater involvement in the war with Russia that has been raging for more than two and a half years.

This is the first time that Washington and its allies have spoken about evidence of the presence of North Korean forces in Russia.

So far, despite South Korea's confirmation of the presence of North Korean forces in Russia, US officials have been cautious in dealing with this issue, repeating over the past days that they are unable to confirm this information.

The South Korean intelligence agency reported on Wednesday that Pyongyang had sent an additional 1,500 soldiers to Russia, indicating that it was an attempt to assist Russia militarily in its war with Ukraine.

On the other hand, North Korea denied the matter, and a representative of Pyongyang to the United Nations said that Seoul’s announcement in this regard was just a “baseless rumour.”