The United States has expressed deep concern about North Korea’s reported plans to dispatch additional troops and workers to assist Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Russia’s continued use of North Korean workers and troops for operations against Ukraine is “deeply concerning.” 

The spokesperson said the North Korean regime is now relying on Russia to provide it with desperately needed funds in exchange for labor and soldier-for-hire arrangements. 

The spokesperson added that North Korean workers financially support Pyongyang’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and that its overseas workers, including those in Russia, are generating income in breach of a UN Security Council resolution.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Tuesday, told Russian media that North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and de-miners to support reconstruction work in Russia’s Kursk region.