Russia, "Operation Ukra is expediting" without mentioning North Korea's military.

Russia said special military operations in Ukraine were underway quickly, but did not elaborate on the North Korean military's participation in the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a briefing on the 13th local time that "special military operations are developing very quickly and abruptly."

Earlier, the U.S. State Department said more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to Russia's Kursk have begun to participate in the fight against Ukrainian forces.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who visited NATO headquarters in Belgium, also reaffirmed the North Korean military's deployment to combat and warned of a decisive response, and the National Intelligence Service said it considers the North Korean troops dispatched to Russia to be already involved in the battle.